Today’s Finance Bill proposed some positive practical changes that will be of assistance to financial services companies.
 
Deirdre Power, Financial Services Tax Partner with Deloitte commented: “While the Budget "nasties" for the FS industry have not gone away, the positive changes to allow dividend and interest payments to be made gross to countries with which we have signed tax treaties, rather than the existing requirement for those treaties to be ratified, is a pragmatic solution for the many FS companies that make cross border payments.  Other benefits arising from this change in treaty status will include an enhancement of the Irish tax treatment of certain overseas dividend and gains from such treaty locations.
 
“At a time when raising finance is a major focus for the industry, another welcome proposal is that purchasers of wholesale debt instruments no longer have an exposure to paying income tax in Ireland on the income arising from such notes.  A similar change is being made in respect of certain discounted securities. The ability for Irish companies to raise debt finance, without causing undue tax exposures for foreign investors, is obviously important and it is good to see these timely changes.
 
“For the insurance industry, widening the deduction for equalisation provisions to credit insurance companies that are required to maintain such a reserve under the 1976 EU regulations is a move in the right direction," Power concluded.

Ends

For Further Information Please Contact
John McGuinness
Murray Consultants
01 498 0361
jmcguinness@murrayconsult.ie

Claire Quinn
PR Executive
Deloitte
01 417 2356
cquinn@deloitte.ie

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