News Release: Vermilion's Luxembourg tax deal will further reduce revenue from Corrib – by how much?

-- Corporation tax is only means of extracting revenue from Irish resources --

Shell to Sea has called on Minister for Energy and Natural Resources Alex White to clarify what impact Corrib Gas partner Vermilion's Luxembourg tax avoidance deal – revealed in today's Irish Times – will have on the revenue the exchequer thinks it will earn from the Corrib gas field. [1]

Spokesperson Maura Harrington said: "Under Ireland's dysfunctional licensing terms, corporation tax is the only means the State uses to extract revenue from gas or oil found under Irish territory. Today's revelation that Vermilion is using a Luxembourg tax avoidance deal to reduce its tax bill in Ireland raises serious questions for Minister Alex White and the Government."

"The 'Luxleaks' disclosure confirms what campaigners and others have warned about for many years – that creative accounting means the revenue earned from a gas field such as Corrib will be only a tiny fraction of the revenue these multinationals generate for their private and out-of-state shareholders. [2]

Ms Harrington continued "Shell, Statoil and Vermilion plan to sell the gas from this Irish gas field to Irish consumers at the international market rate, and will then use complex tax structures such as those involving Luxembourg to move their profits around the world and ensure the Irish people see little or none of the revenue."

Former Managing Director of the Corrib Gas project, Brian O’Cathain previously stated in 2010 “That Corrib will never pay tax”.[3]

ENDS

http://shelltosea.com/content/news-release-vermilions-l...-much

Links/References

[1] Corrib gas partner using Luxembourg deal to reduce tax bill - Colm Keena - Irish Times - 7/11/14
http://www.irishtimes.com/business/economy/corrib-gas-p...91553

[2] Making a Killing: Oil Companies, Tax Avoidance and Subsidies - Platform London
http://platformlondon.org/p-publications/making-a-killi...idies
[3] Corrib 'will never pay tax' says project's former MD - News Release – Dublin Shell to Sea
http://www.shelltosea.com/content/news-release-corrib-w...er-md

See also earlier press release:

Corrib gas partner using Luxembourg deal to reduce tax bill
http://shelltosea.com/content/corrib-gas-partner-using-...-bill