Ireland declines to back OECD corporate tax agreement due to rate

Irish Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe, who is negotiating on behalf of Ireland, said that Ireland broadly supported the deal and would continue to engage with it. "I was not in a position to join the consensus on the agreement and specifically a global minimum effective tax rate of ‘at least 15%’ today," Donohoe said in a statement.

Ireland on Thursday declined to sign a statement backed by 130 of 139 countries negotiating a global overhaul of cross-border taxation of multinationals due to a proposed minimum rate of at least 15%, the finance ministry said.

A statement by the 130 countries at the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development backed plans for a tax rate of at least 15% and taxing more of the profits of the biggest multinationals in countries where the profits are earned. Irish Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe, who is negotiating on behalf of Ireland, said that Ireland broadly supported the deal and would continue to engage with it.

"I was not in a position to join the consensus on the agreement and specifically a global minimum effective tax rate of 'at least 15%' today," Donohoe said in a statement. "I have expressed Ireland's reservation, but remain committed to the process and aim to find an outcome that Ireland can yet support."