Sir, – Feargal O’Rourke of PriceWaterhouseCoopers focuses on the stability provided by the low corporation tax rate in Ireland over the past 22 years but makes no mention of the actual rates paid by companies, which are very different (“Stability of our corporate tax rate is a real positive”, Opinion & Analysis, July 8th).

Very few companies actually pay tax of 12.5 per cent on their “normal” profits. This reality was highlighted in the technical paper issued by the Department of Finance in April 2014, where there is ample evidence of companies claiming deductions in arriving at their taxable profits. These deductions include losses forward, group relief, intellectual property royalty payments – usually to zero-taxed offshore locations – and artificially created intra-group interest charges.

This latter scheme was widely promoted by PWC worldwide, as evidenced by the UK parliamentary inquiry led by Margaret Hodge MP.

Mr O’Rourke is right to highlight the longevity and stability of the Irish corporation tax rate of 12.5 per cent but he should be more open about the actual effective tax rate being paid by all companies, and especially the large multinationals operating within Ireland, many of whom are PWC’s clients. – Yours, etc,

DAVID McCABE,

Blackrock, Co Dublin.