愛爾蘭出臺新規封堵跨國避稅

LONDON — Ireland’s government on Tuesday responded to the clamorous criticism of its business-friendly tax arrangements by closing a loophole used by multinational giants like Google.

倫敦——週二，愛爾蘭政府表示將封堵一個被谷歌(Google)等大型跨國公司利用的稅務漏洞，以此迴應外界對該國有利於企業的稅務安排提出的強烈批評。

The European Union and the Obama administration have been increasingly vocal about the tax-avoidance strategies of multinational companies and the countries that enable them. The European Commission is conducting a broad investigation into the relationships between multinationals and perceived tax havens like Ireland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.

歐洲聯盟(European Union)和奧巴馬政府對跨國公司的避稅策略，以及爲它們提供避稅條件的國家，提出了越來越強烈的批評。歐盟委員會(European Commission)正在對跨國公司與愛爾蘭、盧森堡及荷蘭之間的關係開展廣泛的調查。這些國家被認爲是避稅港。

In recent decades, Ireland has based much of its economic growth and jobs strategy on its low corporate tax rate and other incentives that enticed foreign companies like Google, Apple, Microsoft and Abbott Laboratories. Joe Tynan, tax partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Dublin, estimates that the loophole collectively saved companies billions of euros, although it’s difficult to pinpoint the exact amount.

最近數十年，愛爾蘭的經濟增長和就業政策的基礎，在很大程度上都是靠低廉的公司稅和其他優惠政策，來吸引谷歌、蘋果(Apple)、微軟(Microsoft)和雅培(Abbott Laboratories)等外國企業。 普華永道(PricewaterhouseCoopers)駐都柏林稅務合夥人喬伊·泰南(Joe Tynan)估計，這些漏洞給企業節省了數以十億歐元計的資金，不過準確數字很難確定。

But the change, announced on Tuesday as part of the annual budget statement, won’t necessarily make Ireland any less alluring to companies. For one, the government isn’t touching the country’s tax rate.

但是，週二宣佈的這項變動是年度預算的部分內容，不一定會減弱愛爾蘭對各個企業的吸引力。比如，政府並未調整該國的稅率。

Critics also point to the type of Irish tax strategies that have enabled Apple to potentially avoid billions of dollars in taxes over the years. Those deals, which are part of the separate investigation by the European Commission, do not appear to involve the tax loophole the Irish government says it will close.

批評者還把矛頭對準了愛爾蘭的一種稅收策略，它讓蘋果公司在很多年時間裏可能避稅達數十億美元。歐委會單獨開展的調查就涉及這些稅收安排，它們似乎與愛爾蘭政府聲稱要封堵的稅收漏洞沒有關係。

“I am skeptical as to how big a deal this really is,” said Crawford Spence, an accounting professor at Warwick Business School in Coventry, England. “In general, corporations don’t see much legitimacy in corporation tax, and Western countries don’t appear that interested in making them pay it, either.”

“我懷疑這件事究竟有多大影響，”英格蘭考文垂華威商學院(Warwick Business School)的會計學教授克勞福德·斯賓塞(Crawford Spence)說。“總體而言，企業並不認爲公司稅有多少正當性，而西方國家似乎也對徵收這些稅款不感興趣。”

The government is phasing out what is known as the “double Irish” provision. It allows corporations with operations in Ireland to make royalty payments for intellectual property to a separate Irish-registered subsidiary. That subsidiary, though incorporated in Ireland, typically has its home in a country that has no corporate income tax.

政府正在逐步取消所謂的“愛爾蘭麪包片”模式所涉及條款。它允許在愛爾蘭經營的企業，向該企業在愛爾蘭註冊的另外一家子公司支付知識產權使用費。這家子公司雖然在愛爾蘭註冊，但是其總部往往位於不徵收企業所得稅的國家。

Take Google. Its Dublin headquarters are its main hub outside the United States, employing more than 2,500 people. A Dublin-based subsidiary for Google generates revenue, mostly from online advertising, and then pays it in royalties to a separate Google unit that is registered in Ireland but is resident in Bermuda for tax purposes.

以谷歌爲例，它在都柏林的總部是該公司在美國以外的主要處所，員工超過2500人。谷歌設在都柏林的一家子公司負責創造收入，主要是依靠網絡廣告；然後再把這些收入以知識產權使用費的名義，支付給在愛爾蘭註冊的另一家谷歌子公司。但是爲了避稅，後者登記的住所是百慕大羣島。

Reuters reported that Adobe Systems and Yahoo were also among the multinationals with Irish-registered companies that were not tax residents of Ireland.

路透社報道，跨國公司奧多比系統(Adobe Systems)和雅虎(Yahoo)也擁有在愛爾蘭註冊，但登記的住所不在愛爾蘭，因而不向愛爾蘭納稅的子公司。

“Aggressive tax planning by the multinational companies has been criticized by governments across the globe and has damaged the reputation of many countries,” Michael Noonan, Ireland’s finance minister, told the Irish Parliament on Tuesday as part of a budget speech. “I am abolishing the ability of companies to use the ‘double Irish’ by changing our residency rules to require all companies registered in Ireland to also be tax-resident.”

“跨國公司激進的稅收計劃受到了各國政府的批評，而且玷污了許多國家的名譽，”愛爾蘭財政部長邁克爾·努南(Michael Noonan)週二在議會發表預算演講時說。“我現在要修改關於住所規定，要求所有在愛爾蘭登記的公司也必須是這裏的稅務居民，從而讓那些公司無法再利用‘愛爾蘭麪包片’的模式。”

Google declined on Tuesday to comment on the specifics of the double-Irish technique.

週二，谷歌拒絕就“愛爾蘭麪包片”的具體情況發表評論。

“As we’ve always said, it’s for governments to decide the law and for companies to comply with it,” Google said in a statement. “We’re deeply committed to Ireland and will work to implement these changes as they become law.”

“我們始終認爲，政府制定法律，企業遵守它們，”谷歌在一份聲明中說。“我們非常重視在愛爾蘭的業務，將在這些變動成爲法律之後予以實施。”

Apple and Microsoft declined to comment about their Irish tax strategies. Abbott Laboratories did not respond to calls.

蘋果和微軟拒絕談論在愛爾蘭的稅務策略，雅培沒有回覆記者多次提出的置評請求。

Dublin’s defending the double-Irish provision has become steadily more difficult in the growing political debate about the tax payments made by multinationals.

隨着關於跨國公司納稅金額的政治討論愈演愈烈，都柏林爲“愛爾蘭麪包片”涉及的條款進行辯護的難度也越來越大。

“I think this is part of an overall drive to try to get international companies to pay more tax,” Mr. Tynan said. “Ireland wants to be very competitive, but it has to do that within international rules, and there was a feeling that this was at the boundaries of those rules.”

“我認爲這是讓跨國公司繳納更多稅款的整體趨勢的一部分，”泰南說。“愛爾蘭希望擁有很強的競爭力，但它這麼做必須在國際規則的範圍內。而且人們感到，這件事已經觸碰到了這些規則的邊界。”

Along with Ireland’s tax dealings, the European Commission is also investigating Luxembourg’s relationship with Amazon and a finance unit of Fiat, the Italian automaker. The commission is also questioning Starbucks’s tax arrangements in the Netherlands. These investigations are separate from Ireland’s efforts to phase out certain tax policies.

除了愛爾蘭的稅收政策，歐委會還在調查盧森堡與亞馬遜(Amazon)以及意大利汽車製造商菲亞特(Fiat)旗下一家金融子公司的關係。歐委會也對星巴克(Starbucks)在荷蘭的稅務安排提出了質疑。這些調查與愛爾蘭逐步取消某些稅收政策的做法無關。

At a meeting in Luxembourg on Tuesday, European Union officials gave the Irish announcement a cautious welcome. The European Commission, the union’s executive arm, “will have to look at the details and how it will work in practice,” said Algirdas Semeta, the bloc’s tax commissioner, “but the intention is a very good one.”

歐盟官員週二在盧森堡的一次會議上對愛爾蘭的決定表達了謹慎的歡迎。作爲歐盟的行政分支，歐委會負責稅收的委員阿爾及達斯·塞米塔(Algirdas Semeta)說，歐委會“必須關注具體細節，以及它們如何在實踐中起到作用，但愛爾蘭的意圖很好”。

A spokeswoman for the Irish Department of Finance said the government did not know how many of the many of 1,100 or so multinationals operating in Ireland use the double-Irish technique.

愛爾蘭財政部的一名發言人透露，愛爾蘭政府並不清楚在該國開展業務的約1100家跨國公司中，究竟有多少公司採用了“愛爾蘭麪包片”手法。

“As the measure largely relates to companies that are not currently within the scope of Irish taxation because they are not tax-resident here, accurate data on the number of companies affected by this change is not available,” she said, asking not to be identified by name in keeping with the department’s policy.

“這些措施涉及的企業大多不是愛爾蘭的稅務居民，目前不在愛爾蘭稅收政策涵蓋的範圍內，因此無法得到有多少企業將受到政策變化影響的具體數據，”她說。爲遵守財政部的規定，她要求不具名。

Even as Ireland announced the end of the “double Irish,” it indicated that it was interested in creating something akin to an onshore alternative. Mr. Noonan said the government would explore developing a “knowledge development box,” which would provide tax breaks for revenue and royalties derived from intellectual property.

在宣佈終結“愛爾蘭麪包片”的同時，愛爾蘭仍然表示，有興趣創造一種類似於國內替代方案的東西。努南稱，政府將研究制定一個“知識發展盒”政策，爲源自知識產權的收入和使用費提供稅收優惠。

Other European nations including Britain and the Netherlands have introduced similar programs or “patent boxes,” which allow companies based in the country to apply for a lower tax rate on profits that result from certain patents. But Mr. Noonan indicated the Irish version would be “the best in class” and would offer a “low, competitive and sustainable tax rate.”

包括英國和荷蘭在內的歐洲其他國家也已經推出類似項目或“專利盒”，允許設在本國的企業爲來自特定專利的利潤申請較低稅率。但努南指出，愛爾蘭的方案將是“同類政策中最好的”，並將提供“有競爭力且可持續的低稅率”。

And nothing Mr. Noonan announced on Tuesday would change what has long been one of the biggest sore points for some other countries in the European Union: Ireland’s low official corporate tax rate, which is 12.5 percent. France and other countries with much higher business tax rates have long complained of being undercut by Ireland’s tax policies.

努南週二宣佈的消息不會緩解歐盟其他一些國家長期以來的一大痛處：愛爾蘭正式的公司稅率仍然很低，僅爲12.5%。長期以來，法國和其他一些公司稅率較高的國家一直抱怨，愛爾蘭的稅收政策削弱了它們的競爭力。