2 July 2013 Written Answers. The following are questions tabled by Members for written response and the ministerial replies as received on the day from the Departments [unrevised]. Questions Nos. 1 to 14, inclusive, answered orally. Questions Nos. 15 to 61, inclusive, resubmitted. Questions Nos. 62 to 69, inclusive, answered orally. Tax Code 02/07/2013WRA0070070. Deputy Patrick Nulty asked the Minister for Finance his views on recent allegations made in the US Senate committee hearings that Ireland is being used by certain transnational corporations to significantly reduce their tax liability. [25452/13] 02/07/2013WRA00800Minister for Finance (Deputy Michael Noonan): The corporation tax paid by some large multinational corporations and the rate at which they pay that tax is an issue that has attracted a lot of public and media attention recently. Every country in the world has its own particular tax system. These systems have been put in place and developed over the years to reflect their own circumstances. Some multinational corporations, with the assistance of legal practitioners and tax advisers, have exploited the differences in these systems to their own advantage. What is evident is that these corporations can organise their company structures to such an extent that they are able to minimise their corporate tax liabilities while still acting within the law. In recent weeks national and international attention has turned to Ireland, our competitive corporate tax rate, and the tax arrangements employed by some multinational corporations based here. I want to reiterate some points that are very important to the debate. Firstly, I want to make it clear that we do not have a special low corporation tax rate for multinational companies. Ireland’s tax system is statute-based so there is no possibility of in- dividual special tax rates for companies. All companies resident in Ireland are chargeable to corporation tax at the 12.5% rate on the profits that are generated from their trading activities in Ireland. A higher 25% rate applies in respect of investment, rental and other non-trading profits. Chargeable capital gains are taxable at the capital gains tax rate of 33%. The tax rates that were quoted publicly are, emphatically, not the rate of tax paid by such companies, or by any company, on their Irish activities. Having examined the document pro- duced by the US Senate Subcommittee, it appears that the rate that is being quoted is reached by taking the Irish tax chargeable on the branch activities of companies that are not tax resident here, and dividing this figure by the entire global profit of the company concerned. 241 Questions - Written Answers It is clearly wrong and misleading to attribute this rate of tax to Ireland. Companies which are not tax-resident in Ireland are not chargeable in Ireland in respect of their non-Irish profits, and these non-Irish profit figures should not be used to assert special tax rates that simply do not apply here. Secondly, the ability of multinational entities to lower their aggregate, global tax payments using international structures reflects the global context in which Ireland and indeed all coun- tries operate. This is an issue that we cannot solve on our own, and in a time where citizens are being asked to dig deeper into their pockets, Governments around the world are now taking co-ordinated action to ensure that these corporations pay their fair share of taxes. I would like to reassure the house that Ireland has been proactive and has already taken the lead on many of these global issues, for example: - The Irish Presidency has made significant progress on a number of key files in the area of tax evasion and tax fraud and we were able to bring a number of these to a successful conclu- sion: - At the June Ecofin meeting we agreed a VAT anti-fraud package to combat sudden and massive VAT fraud. - In May, significant progress was made on widening the scope of the EU Savings Directive which involves automatic exchange of information between tax authorities, an important step forward in an area where progress has been stalled for a number of years. - And also in May we brokered an agreement among EU Finance Ministers to set out a road- map on aggressive tax planning and good governance. All of these achievements have been acknowledged as significant by our EU colleagues. In fact, the EU Tax Commissioner, Algirdas Semeta, took to Twitter last week publicly thanking us for our “very successful Presidency” from a tax perspective. - Beyond the EU, Ireland is actively participating in the OECD’s “Base Erosion and Profit Shifting” project, which will shortly produce an action plan that will be the main toolkit of the global effort to tackle this issue. - And, in December last year, Ireland signed an Agreement with the United States to provide for the automatic reporting and exchange of information between the US Treasury and the Irish Revenue Commissioners. In so doing, Ireland was the fourth country in the world to sign such an agreement, which gave effect to the FATCA regulations. This was a welcome opportunity to demonstrate our commitment to combat tax evasion, and in particular, demonstrates our excel- lent relationship with the US authorities in such matters. Both the OECD and EU work has clearly demonstrated that this is a global problem, which cannot be solved by one nation or even one continent acting on its own. NAMA Debtors 02/07/2013WRA0085071. Deputy Sandra McLellan asked the Minister for Finance further to his response in Dáil Éireann where he set out that 45 National Asset Management Agency developers had a collective amount of €8 billion owing to NAMA when they were declared bankrupt outside of Ireland, if NAMA has made provision for the non-payment of what was owed by these develop- ers on its books and what that means for NAMA’s financial outworkings. [31881/13] 242 2 July 2013 02/07/2013WRA00900Minister for Finance (Deputy Michael Noonan): As advised in response to a recent Par- liamentary Question No. 82 of 20th June 2013, NAMA debtors who have been declared bank- rupt outside of Ireland had, by reference to the nominal or par value of loans, exposure to debt of approximately €8 billion at the time of NAMA’s acquisition of loans from the participating institutions. As also advised, NAMA has enforced over the assets securing these loans and continues to realise these assets. Bankruptcy proceedings relate, generally, to any remaining unencumbered or unsecured as- sets held by the bankrupt. The role of the bankruptcy trustee is, therefore, to realise any other residual or unencumbered assets, including property and cash, which the bankrupt may have and to make a distribution to creditors including NAMA. The bankruptcy trustee can also seek to have the bankrupt contribute from post-bankruptcy earnings through an income payment order. NAMA advises that it does not write off debt as a result of debtors filing for bankruptcy outside the jurisdiction of the State. Rather, it is a matter for the bankruptcy proceedings to deal with the outstanding debt. NAMA advises that even where the bankruptcy is discharged, the bankruptcy estate continues until such time as all assets have been liquidated and the debt, in so far as possible, has been repaid. NAMA advises that, in its position as a secured lender, its experience has been that bankruptcy has not tended to prejudice recoveries. The Deputy may wish to refer to NAMA’s Annual Report and Financial Statements for 2012, which contains extensive information regarding the Agency’s operations, including, as set out in pages 26-27 in particular, its insolvency activity and on the locus of debtor bank- ruptcy. The end 2012 financial statements takes account of the financial position of its whole loan book including those debtors that have declared bankruptcy. As with all debtor connec- tions, NAMA conducts regular impairment reviews of connections whose principals have been declared bankrupt. The fact of being declared bankrupt does not in itself necessarily cause the impairment position to deteriorate. NAMA’s security position is not impacted by bankruptcy proceedings. It is important to point out that debtors are entitled to petition to bankrupt themselves in other jurisdictions if they are entitled to do so under the laws of that jurisdiction. The Deputy will be aware that for a debtor to avail of bankruptcy in any given jurisdiction he/she must first of all establish that jurisdiction as his/her centre of main interest (COMI). The establishment of COMI is a matter for the relevant authorities in the jurisdiction in which bankruptcy is sought. NAMA advises that in each instance of bankruptcy involving a NAMA debtor it reviews its options and selects the most appropriate method of ensuring the best possible return for the taxpayer. NAMA advises that it is currently challenging bankruptcy applications on the basis of COMI in two instances and in a further case is supporting the application of another secured bank with a view to having bankruptcy proceedings take place in Ireland. NAMA advises that in each instance of bankruptcy involving a NAMA debtor it reviews its options and selects the most appropriate method of ensuring the best possible return for the taxpayer. As advised in NAMA’s Annual Report and Financial Statements, the Agency, as a secured creditor, is generally neutral on the locus of bankruptcy proceedings and its experience has been that the location has not tended to prejudice recoveries. This position is based in part on its positive on-going engagement with several bankruptcy trustees of debtors who have been adjudged bankrupt in the UK.