IRISH GOVERNMENT MUST TAKE UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY TO BUILD GREATER TAX TRANSPARENCY

For Immediate Release  

Issued by: Debt & Development Coalition Ireland 

16th December 2014

IRISH GOVERNMENT MUST TAKE OPPORTUNITY TO BUILD GREATER TAX TRANSPARENCY

Today, the government can help stop global tax dodging by making public who owns companies and trusts registered in Ireland.

They still haven’t said they will: what do they have to hide?

In the context of repeated international tax dodging scandals, negotiations on the EU’s Anti-Money Laundering Directive -- taking place today, Tuesday 16th December -- provide a unique opportunity to enhance corporate transparency in Europe. The Irish government must stand for increased global tax transparency by pushing for the establishment of a public register of the real owners of companies here in Ireland, and EU-wide. To date, the government has not committed to establishing a public register. 

Currently, there is no centralised, publicly accessible register of the owners of companies and trusts in Ireland.

Debt and Development’s Coordinator Eilis Ryan said;

 "The EU negotations happening on Tuesday are part of the push for greater tax transparency. The ‘LuxLeaks’ files have shown how companies can massively reduce their tax bills globally through building a tangled web of multi-country operations. Greater tax transparency would reveal how companies move profits around the world and would be a step in the right direction for tax justice: more taxes being paid where economic activity is actually taking place."

Establishing a publicly accessible register of the real owners of companies and trusts – those here in Ireland who benefit from profits - is a critical step against global tax dodging. Every year €1 trillion is lost to tax dodging in the EU, with billions being lost from developing countries each year for the same reason. One of reasons this is possible is that profits can be kept out of the sight of tax authorities through corporate secrecy in the form of anonymous companies and trusts, where the ownership is not clear.

DDCI’s Policy Officer Morina O’Neill said;

 "The Irish government has not yet clearly stated that it will support such public register and, if not, we must ask: what is it that they want to hide? Why should the Irish public not have access to the basic information of who owns the companies operating here?"

Ms. O'Neill concluded; 

"It is time we put an end to the absurd practice of not knowing who is behind the companies here in Ireland."

The real or ‘beneficial’ owners of companies should be known. And Ireland must play its part in the EU negotiations by calling now for EU-wide public registers of beneficial owners of companies and trusts, including the establishment of one here in Ireland.

CONTACT: To request an interview or for further information please contact Éilis Ryan on 01 6174835.

Note:

On Tuesday Decmber 16th, the ongoing EU trialogue negotiations on the revision of the Anti-Money Laundering Directive (AMLD) will continue. As part of this, a decision on whether or not public registers of beneficial owners of companies and trusts EU-wide may be taken. Governments in the UK, Denmark, France and Netherlands have expressed various levels of support for such registers. The Irish government has not yet stated its position.