Escaping the shakedown

摘要

When the Irish government, reeling from bank failures and a monumental property crash, unveiled an austerity budget in April, it socked individuals with higher taxes. But it left its corporate-tax rate-the lowest among oecd countries-unchanged at 12.5%. Last year Germany cut its corporate-tax rate from 39% to 30%. Canada is pressing ahead with plans to lower its combined federal-provincial rate to 25%. Russia has also reduced its corporate taxes, and Singapore intends to do so. According to the International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation (IBFD), an Amsterdam-based group that follows international tax developments, no country plans to raise its main corporate levy.