IRELAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Philip Tully, Emma Doherty, Geraldine Carr, Simon Shinkwin and Carlo Salizzo, Matheson LLP
• a company migrates its place of residence from Ireland to any other jurisdiction; or • assets or a business of an Irish permanent establishment (PE) are allocated from the PE back to its head office or to a PE in another jurisdiction (this limb of the charge only applies in respect of companies that are resident in an EU member state other than Ireland). The exit charge does not apply to assets that remain within the Irish tax charge. A higher 33% exit charge can apply where the transaction forms part of an arrangement to subsequently dispose of the relevant assets. Where the relevant company/assets have been migrated to an EU/EEA country, the exit charge may be deferred and, in such circumstances, is payable in instalments over five years. If the exit charge is unpaid, Revenue may pursue any other Irish-resident group company or a director who has a controlling interest in the company subject to the charge. 5.8 Tariffs Ireland is a member of the EU and part of the EU Customs Union. Customs duties (or tariffs) are an entirely EU competence and therefore Ireland is subject to directly applicable EU cus - toms rules. There is tariff-free trade on goods sold within the EU. The EU typically applies the WTO “most favoured nation” principle, which entails that third countries are generally treated equally in terms of trade benefits, including customs duties and other charges. Reduced tariffs can apply to imports originating in territories which have entered into a free trade agreement (FTA) with the EU. Examples of countries which have con -
cluded FTAs with the EU include Canada, Japan and New Zealand. EU tariff rates depend upon the economic sen - sitivity of the goods in question. For example, there is currently a 10% tariff on motor vehicles. Further duties known as “anti-dumping duties” and countervailing duties apply to certain goods. These measures have a particular focus on goods imported from China. Recent developments in US tariff and trade pol - icy have resulted in the consideration of coun - termeasures by the EU. In response to tariffs on steel and aluminium products introduced by the US, the EU was due to impose a series of tar - iffs under the EU Trade Enforcement Regulation on certain US products. When the “reciprocal tariffs” proposed by the US were reduced from 20% to 10%, the EU decided to pause the pro - posed countermeasures as a good faith gesture to support negotiations. In the event no trade deal or consensus is reached, it is possible the EU will adopt these paused counter measures together with additional retaliatory tariffs. The EU also has the “Anti-Coercion Instrument” (ACI) at its disposal, which provides for the pos - sibility of restricting importations or exporta - tions, excluding participation in public tenders, and also allows for the non-performance of inter - national obligations in numerous fields (interna - tional property rights, insurance, banking). Given the wide-ranging nature of the measures under the ACI, this instrument is perhaps more likely to be used as a last resort or for negotiation pur - poses.
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