DUBLIN, May 22: Ireland called on Wednesday for an international clampdown on multinationals shifting profits around the world to avoid tax, after criticism that Irish loopholes helped technology giant Apple to shrink its tax bill.

A US Senate investigation into the tax affairs of the maker of iPhones, iPads and Mac computers has shone an uncomfortable spotlight on Ireland’s tax regime and forced the government to defend itself against accusations of being Europe’s onshore tax haven.

Other European governments, notably France, have previously criticised Ireland’s low rate of corporation tax — 12.5 per cent - but the revelations from Washington focus on loopholes in the Irish tax code that are more difficult to defend.

Richard Bruton, the minister in charge of attracting foreign companies to Ireland, admitted that companies need to be reined in. “They play the tax codes one against the other; that is tax planning, and I think we do need international cooperation through the OECD to deal with the aggressive nature of that,” he told state broadcaster RTE.

“Tax has always been an element of the Irish offering, and this will continue to be so, but what you have to avoid is what is known as harmful tax competition. We scrupulously avoid that.”

The US investigation showed that Apple had paid just two per cent tax on $74 billion in overseas income, largely helped by Irish tax law, which allows companies to be incorporated in the country without being tax resident.—Reuters