Vision 2030 Jan. 2013 | Page 23

Foreign Direct Investment in Ireland • Ranked 13th out of 125 countries in the Global Innovation Index • Ireland is one of the top 10 countries in the world for ease of doing business • Ireland recently replaced Singapore as the most globalised Western economy • Ireland is in the top 10 of the world’s freest economies • Ireland has maintained its corporate tax rate of 12.5% • A 25% Research & Development (R&D) tax credit is available • Ireland has an Intellectual Property (IP) regime which provides a tax write-off for broadly defined IP acquisitions • An effective zero tax rate for foreign dividends (12.5% tax rate on qualifying foreign dividends, with flexible onshore pooling of foreign tax credits) • An EU-approved stable tax regime, with access to an extensive treaty network and EU Directives • Generous domestic law withholding tax exemptions 23