By:
Helen Bruce - Irish Daily Mail
But experts say State may not get a cent
Drillers could pocket €53billion from a new find of 1.6billion barrels of oil off the coast of Cork - but the Irish taxpayer may have to wait years to even see a cent of it.
Yesterday, politicians and economists called for an overhaul of current policy - which means Ireland has no stake in its natural resources and can only hope to regain a fraction of its worth via taxation.
The international tax average is 68 per cent, but Ireland's tax term means we could only net between 25 per cent and 40 per cent of the value of the oil bonanza, which at current crude oil prices would be worth between €13billion and €21billion.
Experts warn that exploration companies need only pay tax once they show an operating property, and that they can first write off all their costs of exploration in Irish waters and of developing the oil field.
A cross party Oireachtas committee has recently proposed raising the tax take from large oil and gas finds up to 80 per cent of profits, which would se the Barryroe oil field contribute €42.4billion to the Irish economy.
Posted Date:
27 July 2012