Britain says no to lower corp tax, but why........?

[st333ve]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/7148574.stm


An expert rules out reducing corporation tax in Northern Ireland, saying it would hurt the rest of the UK.

The majority of companies are set to pay larger corp tax in the future.


Companies have been lobbying for a major reduction to promote investment. The top rate of 30% for large companies is to be reduced to 28% by April.

Finance Minister Peter Robinson said he was "disappointed" at the findings.

Speaking on behalf of the Northern Ireland Executive he said: "We will continue to argue the case for a reduction in corporation tax. The issue will not go away."

He said a second review was to take place to identify policies and incentives for strengthening and sustaining private sector growth, investment and employment.

Irish Society of Chartered Accountants President Vincent Sheridan said the cut in corporation cax was needed to bed down the peace process.

Taxation needs to be raised to fund the delivery of these public goods

Varney report

"In terms of foreign direct investment we will miss the one and only opportunity to attract business to Northern Ireland through a globally competitive corporation tax rate," he said.


The Varney report, unveiled on Monday, said a reduced rate of corporation tax for Northern Ireland

"would certainly come at a long-term cost in reduced resources to be shared by the UK regions or in the financing of public services".

"The policy would result in a net cost of about £2.2bn over 10 years, with no prospect of full cost recovery over the long run."

The vast majority of the 60,000 local companies pay a lower rate of 19% which is being increased to 22% in 2009.
The Republic's low corporation tax has been a key factor in its economic success.
Sir David said there had been little evidence put forward on other differences north and south of the border such as infrastructure, currency or VAT rates.
He added there was uncertainty about the amount of foreign direct investment that would flow from the cut.

"The academic evidence is that skills, rule of law, industrial relations, the potential for innovation and the quality of infrastructure are more important in determining the 'business fit' of potential investment," the report said.

"Indeed in many of these areas, taxation needs to be raised to fund the delivery of these public goods."
A major investment conference is planned for next spring to attract US companies.

Improving skills, reducing the size of the public sector relative to the economy as a whole and increasing the number of business start-ups were all recommended in the 132-page report.

"Promoting entrepreneurship, spending more on research and development, increasing the ratio of capital to workers in the economy and the percentage of the workforce with higher qualifications all have a significant bearings on regional labour productivity," it said.
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All parties in the north want lower corp tax to give the north a chance at attracting incoming investment.
These parties have a mandate from the entire voting northern population yet we are powerless to change this taxation because Britain says no!
Having a huge mandate in the north means nothing when you have to beg Britain for a chance of prosperity.

The fact that Britain would fear losing trade to the north through dropping corp tax is a blatently obvious telling sign that it would have a major impact in attracting investment.
Its an obvious kick in the teeth for the north, and why would they be concerned if the economy in the north grew if it was going to remain in the uk?

Yet again the north is held back by unionism, how much do we need to pay to remain in this medievil imperial union which prevents democracy in the north and is solely designed around what is best for England.

I'm quite annoyed at their selfish reasons for denying us the oppertunity for job creations and economic prosperity.
They wont drop our corp tax because it could take incoming envestment from Britain.
NI is treated as a second class part of the UK and thats the cold hard truth of the situation.

[Henry Joy]

The English are nothing if not cunning. Unionists are now forced to look to the benefits of a UI. Expect more of the same over the next few years. I believe it's called being cruel to be kind.

[beardyboy]

No - they are not - they are being treated exaclty as they wished for expessed by the ballot box - they are being treated as an integral part of the United Kingdom.

So the unionists should stop whingeing and crow about how wonderful it is to be British and saved from brass money and wooden shoes

[The Trinity Politick]

The English are nothing if not cunning. Unionists are now forced to look to the benefits of a UI. Expect more of the same over the next few years. I believe it's called being cruel to be kind.

Indeed it could be a long term tactic to encourage Northern Ireland from the Union, but who knows. The more likely scenario is to prevent a domino effect and the complete end of the union and thus British posterity as a powerful unity country

[beardyboy]

[quote=The Trinity Politick]

The English are nothing if not cunning. Unionists are now forced to look to the benefits of a UI. Expect more of the same over the next few years. I believe it's called being cruel to be kind.

Indeed it could be a long term tactic to encourage Northern Ireland from the Union, but who knows. The more likely scenario is to prevent a domino effect and the complete end of the union and thus British posterity as a powerful unity country[/quote:swmivul1]

And is it not against EU rules to allow different parts of a country to have different tax regimes?

[stringjack]

Yet again the north is held back by unionism, how much do we need to pay to remain in this medievil imperial union which prevents democracy in the north and is solely designed around what is best for England.

In other news, Trebuchets R Us has announced record third quarter profits for its UK subsidiary and is bullish about Christmas sales.

[The Trinity Politick]

[quote=beardyboy]

The English are nothing if not cunning. Unionists are now forced to look to the benefits of a UI. Expect more of the same over the next few years. I believe it's called being cruel to be kind.

Indeed it could be a long term tactic to encourage Northern Ireland from the Union, but who knows. The more likely scenario is to prevent a domino effect and the complete end of the union and thus British posterity as a powerful unity country

And is it not against EU rules to allow different parts of a country to have different tax regimes?[/quote:16y11mg2]

I don't think so, but i wouldn't be entirely sure. As the EU would be taking a supranational view and since countries are viewed as regions themselves , i doubt different tax regimes internally is relevant.

Of course if tax homogenisation came in....

[Rocky]

The British government are always going to do be reluctant to do something to benefit NI that will directly hurt Britain as this report says lowering the corporation tax would do because there is no electoral benefit to it because Labour and the Conservatives don't run in NI so they couldn't win votes out of it and if they did they wouldn’t win votes out of it and they would only lose votes from angry British people who lost their jobs because of this decision.

[beardyboy]

Annother thing - if London did allow this concession how do you think that would go down with areas of England that are less well off?

Nah - it is a no hoper

[Cloigeann]

This might be a blessing in disguise.. keep chipping away the excuses for the unionists for staying in the UK and how great it is compared to a united Ireland, however as usual nationalists have to suffer from unionist blindness in terms of the more money and better quality a low corp tax would bring.