The CCAB-I has made a submission in response to the Coffey Review. The CCAB-I notes that while it is important for Ireland to operate in line with best international practice, our Corporation Tax system must tax correctly all companies and branches within the charge to Irish tax. This should be in a manner appropriate to the needs of the Irish Exchequer and sustainable by reference to the structure of the Irish economy. Extending transfer pricing rules and obligations to the Small and Medium Enterprise sector will increase the burden of paperwork without significantly enhancing the integrity of the system.

The CCAB-I makes a number of proposals in response to suggestions on how Ireland should alter domestic tax laws on transfer pricing and anti-tax avoidance measures which include:

• Additional general anti-abuse rules are not necessary or desirable given Ireland’s extensive and court tested anti-avoidance tax laws.
• Controlled Foreign Company laws should allow for flexibility and should be introduced into Irish tax law no earlier than 2020 with draft legislation released in advance for consultation.
• Certain aspects of the 2017 OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines should be incorporated into Irish law no earlier than 2020.
• Small and medium sized companies should not be subject to transfer pricing rules as this will increased the compliance burden on this sector with no corresponding benefit to tax revenue or to the integrity of the tax system.

The Coffey Review of the corporation tax code was published in June 2017. The purpose of the review was to help inform Ireland’s international tax strategy in light of anti-BEPS initiatives from the OECD and the anti-avoidance measures emanating from the European Commission. The Review itself recommended that a number of matters concerning transfer pricing and the Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive should be the subject of further public consultation and such a consultation was duly launch in October 2017. Read CCAB-I’s submission on here.