Niall MacSuibhne

EU countries clamping down on tax avoidance is creating problems for the Republic…

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Last week started with Philip Hammond’s extraordinary  threat to the EU that he would turn the UK into a tax haven, a sort of “Caymans sur la Manche”, if you will. All because Michel Barnier and his fellow negotiators are unlikely to  give the UK what it wants, a free ride.  Mr. Hammond gave the Welt am Sonntag the ill advised interview, available here (in German), during a short trip to Germany to meet the former tax inspector and current …

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An update on Apple’s tax problems – The curious case of the 5 billion the Irish Government does not really want…

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I previously wrote a short piece on the Apple story. But Brian suggested a follow up and I think it needs further development, based on stories elsewhere. Rod Hall, a senior analyst with JP Morgan, and a bit of a tech celebrity, thinks that the possible tax hit is not a problem. He is talking about a hit of $19,000M OR €17,000M.  Unfortunately, as my millions are not minded by JP Morgan, I don’t get a copy of his musings …

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A Tale of Two Cities – The contrast of future spending plans in Dublin & Belfast

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It looks likely that Ireland will run a small current budget surplus in 2015, despite initially budgeting for a deficit. Growth is running at 4% plus, employment is up. taxes are flowing into the coffers at a greater rate than predicted, Social Welfare spending is falling as activation measures take hold and  Patrick Honohan has remitted an additional €300M more than expected from the Central Bank’s windfall profits. The Irish Government have announced plans to make positive adjustments of approximately …

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An Apple a day, keeps the tax man away. Unwanted windfall gains for the Irish Government?

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The Apple story has reappeared, like Granny’s reheated tart. The Irish Times reports here that Apple have said that a direction to pay additional taxes due to Ireland would be “material”. The story is also covered in the Financial Times (€) here. The two pieces are based on a quarterly stock exchange filing by Apple, which can be openly accessed here . The relevant comment, causing the controversy is, “On June 11, 2014, the European Commission issued an opening decision …

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Brexit – What will be the cost if the UK exits the EU?

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The German Bertelsmann Foundation with the assistance of the IFO Institute have produced a report attempting to analyse the effects of a UK exit from the European Union.  The report makes sobering reading for all, but particularly people in Ireland and Northern Ireland. The report makes a serious effort to put figures on what has to date been a very esoteric discussion. It looks at two assumptions, a “soft”exit and a “hard” exit, examining the likely GDP loss and the  …

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Finland and the Dying Left of Europe

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The Finnish election results available here are the final nail in the Greek coffin and are a lesson for the so-called anti-austerity parties throughout Europe. The core of the next Government will likely come from the rural and small town Centre Party and the less pleasant Finns’ Party, formerly True Finns. The Prime Minister elect Juha Sipilä, a devout Lutheran, of the type more at home in the Gospel Halls of Ballymena, decisively defeated the outgoing Prime Minister and his …

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Boost the economy and improve income distribution by cutting VAT not taxes

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Dr. Micheál Collins of the Nevin Economic Research Institute and a former member of the 3rd Commission on Taxation,  report available here, has produced a number of interesting papers on the (broader) tax burden. He is trying to widen the discussion to include indirect taxes, such as VAT & Excise. Or as Jimmy Crowley  sang in the Cork anti-conscription song, Salonika,  “they tax the pound of butter, they tax the h’penny bun”. Micheál has produced a number of papers, Total …

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One Parent Family Payment  Adjustment  – A Lesson in welfare reform for the Northern Ireland Assembly?

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In the Republic, the current Minister for Social Protection, Joan Burton, has introduced far reaching and controversial (to some) changes to One Parent Family Payment. In introducing these changes, she has tackled a particularly large payment made by her Department to those who are of working-age. She has done so against a concerted attack from Sinn Féin and the various brands of Trotskyite thought represented in the Dáil. The changes reflect a perspective, promoting participation in employment and ensuring that …

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Why would you bother investing in Northern Ireland?

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Retired Irish Civil Servant Niall MacSuibhne (formerly the Irish Revenue dept) writes about what attracts multinationals to a region Ernst & Young publishes an annual review of Foreign Direct Investment in Europe and has done so for some years. These “attractiveness reports” as they are quaintly called give a continent wide picture of trends within the FDI sector, including both EU and the rest of Europe, so regularly ignored by commentators. The bad news for UKNI and those pushing the role of …

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The attraction of Ireland to (US) Multinationals – Is it the weather?

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As part of our series of posts on the economy, retired Irish Civil Servant Niall MacSuibhne (formerly the Irish Revenue dept) writes this post on the how the republic attracts so many US Companies to Ireland.  “Ireland works.”, a tax director from PwC once said to me. “It isn’t the lowest tax rate around, it isn’t the cheapest location in Europe, but the overall package works. Come to Ireland, you will make money and you will be able to keep most of it.” Ireland clearly …

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