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Ireland joins OECD International Tax agreement

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Re: Ireland joins OECD International Tax agreement

#151

Post by alvah »

simondotau wrote: post #92
jpmoral wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Australia, I like: - parks - museums - libraries - free primary and secondary education - subsidised tertiary/vocational education - a (relative of course) functioning public transport system - healthcare - worker protections - other stuff I'm sure I'm forgetting Sure, government is inefficient. All large orgs are. But are you telling me for-profit corporations are going to create a society with all these things f…

Generally Government is dramatically more efficient than a comparable private business—the difference is that Government failings tend to be publicly available information, while a corporation can blow thirty million dollars on ineffective marketing and unnecessary consultants and you'll never know.

That's a bizarre take. What incentivises governent workers to be efficient? What incentives workers & owners of a private business to be efficient? Government isn't at risk of going out of business, and within a government department, doing a particular thing more efficiently can result in lower budget and reduced headcount. You might be talking about certain large enterprises that have become bloated and top-heavy with non-productive hires & survive by lobbying government to regulate & discourage smaller competitors, but that certainly doesn't describe most private companies.

Re: Ireland joins OECD International Tax agreement

#152

Post by dandotway »

With Hollywood Accounting[1], you make taxable profits transform into untaxable expenses that you pay to yourself for services you rendered to yourself, and Ireland has been a common destination for this sort of money to flow.

  Hollywood accounting can take several forms. In one form,
  a subsidiary is formed to perform a given activity and the
  parent entity will extract money out of the film's revenue
  in the form of charges for certain "services". For example,
  a film studio has a distribution arm as a sub-entity, which
  will then charge the studio a "distribution fee" — essentially,
  the studio charging itself a sum it has total control over and
  hence control the profitability report of a project.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_accounting

Essentially, Apple USA makes billions selling iPhones in the USA, then pays those billions to Apple Ireland for the right to put little Apple logos on iPhones. Likewise, Google USA pays billions in US ad sales profits to Google Ireland for the right to use Google tech for Google search.

When the Irish loophole closes I'm sure they'll think up another "One Weird Trick" to make taxable profits mystically transmute into untaxable expenses.

Re: Ireland joins OECD International Tax agreement

#153

Post by space_rock »

JaakkoP wrote: post #83

This is a shrewd move by Ireland. Multinational companies chose Ireland largely because: 1) Low tax basis 2) English speaking EU country 3) Part of the Euro zone (less important than #1 and #2 to be sure). Given the OECD tax agreement there are fewer low-tax destinations for companies to pick from. And because of Brexit there are no other English-speaking EU countries. Companies in Ireland aren’t going anywhere and i…

Of course. Cartels are always about reducing competition. Even if a cartel between countries like OPEC or this agreement. Irland just killed the competition

Re: Ireland joins OECD International Tax agreement

#154

Post by colechristensen »

dandotway wrote: post #152

With Hollywood Accounting[1], you make taxable profits transform into untaxable expenses that you pay to yourself for services you rendered to yourself, and Ireland has been a common destination for this sort of money to flow. Hollywood accounting can take several forms. In one form, a subsidiary is formed to perform a given activity and the parent entity will extract money out of the film's revenue in the form of ch…

Probably, but it does seem over the last twenty years there has been real actual effort to close loopholes. It is slow which can be frustrating, but we’re also talking about changing the way many businesses work and quite complex topics which are not always obviously right or wrong.

Re: Ireland joins OECD International Tax agreement

#155

Post by hash872 »

tylersmith wrote: post #115
seoaeu wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It struck me as highly dishonest. I have a hard time believing that anyone one seriously thinks 0.000000% of government spending benefits common people

Well we exist. That's a charitable phrasing even; government spending brings severely negative value to common people.

I don't mean to be curt, but if you really feel that way, nothing's stopping you from renouncing your US citizenship and moving to a developing country with vastly less government (and taxes) such as Afghanistan, the Central African Republican, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, etc. I personally enjoy the current arrangement I have where I pay taxes in exchange for (no offense to anyone) civilization & membership in the wealthiest country globally, but if you feel poorly served as-is no one's forcing you to live under your present government, so I don't quite understand the complaint

Re: Ireland joins OECD International Tax agreement

#156

Post by hatenberg »

tylersmith wrote: post #115
seoaeu wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It struck me as highly dishonest. I have a hard time believing that anyone one seriously thinks 0.000000% of government spending benefits common people

Well we exist. That's a charitable phrasing even; government spending brings severely negative value to common people.

Right. As seen with the ability to get vaccines in the hands of everyone regardless of where they are in the country.

Re: Ireland joins OECD International Tax agreement

#157

Post by DevKoala »

Pet_Ant wrote: post #48
SSLy wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you mention Berlin and Paris, then also Amsterdam and Warsaw deserve mentions.

Warsaw? We’re becoming the Texas of Europe, more than a little unpalatable.

Have you been to Texas? From all my trips there it is a lot like California. Also California is very different once you get out of the big cities, which cover only a small surface of the state.

Re: Ireland joins OECD International Tax agreement

#158

Post by dandotway »

Brakenshire wrote: post #9
munk-a wrote: post #6

I've always been baffled as to how this is seen as a multi-national issue. The US could always implement unilateral minimum VAT and profit[3] taxes on corporations forcing them to effectively pay whatever proportion the US demands to continue doing business in the world's largest consumer market. Just because you're only paying 3%[1] profit[3] tax in Bermuda doesn't mean you can necessarily skate around the remaining…

Governments want to tax profits rather than revenues. A tax on revenues would kill a lot of high growth businesses.

> Governments want to tax profits rather than revenues

Yes, but Hollywood Accounting[1] transforms taxable profits into untaxable expenses. (Search this discussion for 'Hollywood Accounting' for a longer post I made.) A revenue tax is more difficult to game with creative accounting methods.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_accounting

Re: Ireland joins OECD International Tax agreement

#159

Post by eru »

pbourke wrote: post #103
jxcole wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why? This comment is not about Berlin or Paris, it is mentioning then as examples of non English speaking cities. Is the author supposed to mention every city in Europe?

The Netherlands has the highest English proficiency in the world [0] (among non-native speaking countries) so I imagine it would be a compelling choice. [0] https://www.ef.com/wwen/epi/

Yes, though still not quite as compelling, because you still have to speak Dutch eg at the playground.

Re: Ireland joins OECD International Tax agreement

#160

Post by eru »

ashtonkem wrote: post #78
BuyMyBitcoins wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>” We’re becoming the Texas of Europe” In what way? A ton of businesses are moving to Texas for more favorable tax treatment, fewer regulations, and lower cost of living. Is that a happening with Poland, too?

You’re right, Poland is probably in worse position than Texas here. Texas at least has the promise of a federal system to reign in its more unpopular legislative instincts, Poland not so much.

> Texas at least has the promise of a federal system to reign in its more unpopular legislative instincts, Poland not so much.

That's very weird? Wouldn't the state legislature, being elected by local people be more likely to be popular with local people than the federal government with is largely elected by people outside of Texas?

(Or do you mean 'unpopular' with people outside of Texas?)

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