At a recent tax conference, the Irish Minister for Finance announced that he would be launching a consultation process on budget day (10 October 2017) relating to taxation policy. The consultation is related to the recent Coffey report on the Irish corporate tax system. However, it is likely it will mainly focus on how best to adapt the Irish tax system in light of a number of international tax initiatives, including the EU Anti-Tax Avoidance Directives and the OECD BEPS project. 

Much ink has already been spilt speculating on how Ireland, and other EU countries, which have historically preserved simple and attractive corporate tax regimes, will respond to these measures. The uncertainty created by the introduction of esoteric "anti-hybrid rules" and "interest caps" is concerning for many businesses. It is very encouraging that the Minister has announced that a formal and public deliberation process will be conducted in order to review the implementation of such measures. Maples and Calder intends to be involved in the consultation and will use our market-leading tax knowledge to inform and debate the issues with Irish policy makers. 

For Irish and international investors engaged with the Irish tax system, the dialogue represents an important opportunity to preserve stable, balanced and fair tax policies throughout this current period of change.