‘Banks must be made to pay their fair share of taxes’ - Pearse Doherty

There is something rotten at the core of our economy when banks can pocket obscene profits of €5bn and while paying next to nothing in tax, Sinn Féin spokesperson for Finance, Pearse Doherty, said. 

The Donegal TD has said the government needs to stop facilitating the banks from dodging taxes on profits they have made off the backs of ordinary workers.

“The government has allowed banks to heap more and more pressure on workers and families, squeezing them dry in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis,” Teachta Doherty said.  “All the while, the state’s two large banks, AIB and Bank of Ireland, boast staggering combined operating profits of €5bn in 2024.

“These obscene profits are being made by ripping people off, plain and simple.  No new product or innovation, just inflation used as a chance to squeeze homeowners and shortchange savers.  It’s daylight robbery. Worst still, we know from their financial statements that they now plan to avoid paying taxes on these bumper profits, paying nowhere near their fair share.

“Even if they paid Ireland’s very generous low corporate tax rate of 12.5%, they’d owe over half a billion euro to the Irish public.  That’s €540 million that could go towards helping workers and families through the cost-of-living crisis. 

“Instead, they're using a sweetheart deal from 2014 – which this government continues to honour – to avoid paying tax on these bumper profits by carrying forward old losses.

READ NEXT: Fire Danger Notice issued for Donegal over weekend until Monday

“The bailout really is a gift that keeps on giving.  And the Irish public keeps on paying. Bank of Ireland will pay less than 2% tax – just €29m on their Irish operations.  While AIB will get away with paying only 0.3% tax, just €8m to the Irish public on their 2024 profits.

“This means Bank of Ireland is avoiding €221m in taxes and AIB is avoiding paying €319m.  Rather, that money is being syphoned off into corporate coffers and investors' pockets. Government-sanctioned corporate profiteering needs to end.  Banks must be made to pay their fair share of taxes.”