Ireland’s corporation tax revenues are highly concentrated among a small number of large, foreign-owned multinationals. In 2022, just ten corporate groups accounted for three-fifths of all corporation tax receipts. We use a granular approach to better understand this concentration. Using publicly available financial statements, we develop an extended list of corporate groups who are likely to be among the highest taxpayers in Ireland. We estimate that just three corporate groups accounted for around a third of all corporation tax revenues from 2017 to 2021, with ICT and pharma-chem being the top sectors. The concentration of receipts makes firm- or sector-specific shocks a significant driver of fluctuations in Ireland’s corporation tax receipts. This underlines the risks posed by over-relying on these revenue flows to fund permanent measures. [1]
What does this paper seek to do?
Ireland’s corporation tax receipts are highly concentrated among a handful of large, foreign-owned multinationals. This paper seeks to better understand this concentration. It makes two main contributions. First, it draws on publicly available financial statements to develop an extended list of corporate groups who are likely to be among the highest taxpayers in Ireland. Second, it develops a number of different approaches to estimate how much corporation tax each group might pay in Ireland. The results underline just how concentrated corporation tax receipts are in Ireland.
[1]The opinions expressed and arguments employed in this paper do not necessarily reflect the official views of the Fiscal Council.