UBM to become tax resident in Ireland

Publisher and events organiser United Business Media has become the second large British company in a month to announce plans to move its tax base to Ireland to benefit from the country's less complex system.

UBM said in a statement today it would create a new holding company with a tax base in Ireland as it would better suit the firm which now operates in more than 30 countries and generates more than 85 percent of its profits from outside Britain.

UBM said Ireland had a less complex system of taxation that would suit its new structure.

"In contrast, the UK tax system imposes tax on all companies in a worldwide group, and consequently UBM has had to manage the interaction between the UK tax system and the tax systems of the multiple countries in which UBM operates," it said.

"This has given rise to both significant compliance costs and risks of inadvertent tax charges arising."

Ireland's low corporation tax at 12.5 per cent has become one of the main attractions for foreign companies, compared to Britain's rate of 28 per cent.

British drugmaker Shire said earlier this month it planned to move its parent company to Ireland "to help protect the group's taxation position".

UBM said the reorganisation was expected to have a positive impact on the earnings per share of the new holding company, United Business Media Limited, in the medium term and it does not expect any job losses in the UK.

© 2008 ireland.com