評論
打印
Corporate taxation
企業稅務
Death of the Double Irish
計劃夭折
The Irish government plans to alter one of its more controversial tax policies
愛爾蘭政府計劃改變其一項頗具爭議的稅收政策
BONO may front one of the world's most popular rock bands, but the U2 singer did not earn many new fans when he recently defended Ireland's controversial tax policies, which are widely seen as helping multinationals to avoid paying their fair share. Even Ireland's government seems to be having doubts. On October 14th it announced plans to close the country's biggest loophole, the “Double Irish”.
BONO 也許面對的是世界上最流行的搖滾樂隊之一，但是U2最近并沒有因為愛爾蘭有爭議的稅收政策做辯護而增加新的粉絲，而這一稅收政策被廣泛認為是在幫助跨國公司避稅，而這些稅本是公平份額。甚至愛爾蘭政府似乎也有些疑慮。10月14日，其宣布了用以彌補國家最大漏洞的“Double Irish”計劃。
The Double Irish allows companies to shift their profits from high-tax countries to havens. This is typically done by transferring royalty payments for intellectual property to a firm inIreland, then on to another Irish-registered subsidiary that is tax-resident in a country with no corporate-income tax, such as Bermuda. Users can thereby cut their effective tax rate—perfectly legally—far below Ireland's already low 12.5% rate, in some cases down to less than 2%. The ruse is popular with American computing and pharmaceutical firms.
“Double Irish”計劃可以使公司收益更多，把高稅收國家變成了天堂。這通常是通過將知識產權特許使用金轉入一家位于愛爾蘭的公司，而后轉入另一家在愛爾蘭注冊的子公司，該子公司為某一國家沒有企業所得稅納稅居民，如百慕大。用戶因此可以縮減其有效稅率，使其遠遠低于愛爾蘭已經很低12.5%的稅率，在某些情況下，甚至可以低于2%，且完全合法。這一策略在美國計算機公司及制藥公司中被普遍使用。
From January all new companies domiciled inIrelandwill also have to be tax-residents there, making the Double Irish impossible.Irelandis acting under pressure from America, the European Commission and the OECD, which are working on multilateral reform of international tax rules to curb avoidance. This is not the first time it has buckled. Last year it made it illegal for firms registered inIrelandto declare themselves stateless for tax purposes.
從一月起，所有在愛爾蘭注冊的新公司將不得不成為這里納稅居民，這使得“Double Irish”計劃不可能再有后續進展。愛爾蘭在行動的同時還要要考慮來著美國，歐盟委員會和經濟合作與發展組織的壓力，它們正致力于多邊國際稅法改革以遏制避稅行為。這已經不是第一次改革了。去年其使得在愛爾蘭注冊的公司為避稅而宣布其無國籍的行為變得非法。
The retreat has kindled fears that foreign firms, many of which moved to Ireland largely for its tax policies, will leave for more accommodating climes. (As it is, a clampdown on avoidance in America seems to have deterred AbbVie, a drugs firm, from taking over Shire, a rival based inIreland.) Yet the government is giving with one hand even as it takes with the other. On the same day it did away with the Double Irish, it created a “knowledge development box”, which will allow firms to pay a lower tax rate on profits from intellectual property booked inIreland. The OECD has tried, unsuccessfully, to limit this type of tax benefit, which is also known as a “patent box”. Moreover, the Double Irish won't die overnight. Companies already registered in Ireland are being given six years to alter their accounting structures.
“Double Irish”計劃的衰落引發了外國公司的擔心，許多外國公司是由于愛爾蘭的稅收政策才遷入愛爾蘭的，他們將離開愛爾蘭去尋找政策更好的地方。（實際上，打壓美國公司的避稅行為似乎是在阻止AbbVie制藥公司取代其競爭對手——源于愛爾蘭的Shire。）然而，政府一只手在奉獻，另一只手卻在掠奪。摒棄了“Double Irish”計劃的同一天，政府又創建了一個“知識發展盒子”計劃，該計劃使得公司利用登記在愛爾蘭的知識產權盈利時所應繳納的所得稅稅率更低。經濟合作與發展組織嘗試過去限制此類被稱為“專利盒子”稅收優惠，但失敗了。此外，“Double Irish”計劃不會在一夜之間魂飛魄散。已經在愛爾蘭注冊的公司會被給予6年的時間以改變其會計結構。
Ireland's move will raise pressure on other countries that are seen as enablers of rampant tax avoidance, even if they are not themselves havens, thanks to their business-friendly networks of tax treaties. Chief among them are Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Bono knows all about the fiscal delights of the Low Countries: in 2006, U2 moved the firm that houses its publishing royalties from Ireland to the Netherlands, largely for tax reasons.
愛爾蘭的舉動會給那些被視為猖獗的避稅行為推動者的國家帶來壓力，即使他們也不是避稅天堂，多虧了他們的親商稅收條約網絡。這其中最主要的國家是盧森堡和荷蘭。Bono很清楚低稅收國家的財政喜悅：在2006年，U2將其出版公司從愛爾蘭遷到荷蘭，很大程度上是出于稅收的原因。譯者：川端
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