Planned EU rules for country-by-country tax reporting by multinationals would have “serious implications” for Ireland’s competitiveness and ability to attract investment to the country, a department briefing said.
The briefing said it was “strongly recommended” that Minister of State Robert Troy should make an intervention to oppose the tax changes at a public debate.
The EU wants the new law to force multinationals to report their tax payments and activities for each member state to increase transparency.
However, a Departmental briefing warned this would not benefit Ireland and was likely to impact investment from inside and outside the EU.
The brief said: “This proposal has serious implications for our competitiveness and ability to attract FDI [foreign direct investment] from both within and outside the EU, as countries including the US and Japan oppose publication of tax information.”
It also warned Minister Robert Troy of a possible conflict where he would be speaking against the change while it was being supported by Ireland’s EU Commissioner Mairead McGuinness.
Access to this brief had originally been refused by the Department, but a redacted version was subsequently released following a request for internal review.