New Measure In The Ireland Finance Act 2013

08 Aug 2013

A gathering of civil servants, financial industry executives and accountants called ‘The Clearing House’ have helped to secure a dozen separate measures in the Finance Act of 2013, the legislation that enacts budget measures. The proposals sought by this group and included in the legislation are: Improvised foreign tax credit regime; Changes in the tax treatment of a few investment funds; Exempted capital acquisition tax for foreign firms; Changed taxation of foreign dividends for a few firms with branches abroad; More generous incentives for R&D (Research and Development).

According to the financial industry and Government, these measures are aimed at creating jobs. Aiming at enhancing the type of tax relief for some categories of firms, the group has also sought a few Technical Amendments to the Finance Legislation. In a few cases, the proposed legislation drafts were put to the Department of Finance for consideration. Though many public representatives and tax equity campaigners say that the group’s influence is unhealthy, many others support the group because since its inception in 1987, the IFSC has contributed more than €1 billion annually in payroll taxes and corporation tax, and grown to employ 33,000 people.

The Clearing House Group has senior public servants from the financial industry’s regulator, the Central Bank and the Department of Finance along with firms like PwC, Bank of Ireland, KPMG and Citi, with Martin Fraser, the State’s most senior civil servant as the Chairman. The Government began publishing minutes of its meetings last year, following claims that it was too secretive and gave the financial services industry unprecedented access to Government.

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