On 7 June 2017, Finance Minister Mr. Michael Noonan T.D. has signed the OECD Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (“Multilateral Instrument” or “MLI”) on behalf of Ireland at the OECD’s headquarters in Paris.
Ireland was among the 68 countries to sign the Multilateral Convention, which is designed to implement key OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) measures into existing bilateral tax treaties. Ireland has 72 tax treaties in effect and the multilateral convention will enable Ireland to update the majority of these treaties to ensure they are BEPS compliant without the need for separate bilateral negotiations.
Commenting on the signing of the Multilateral Convention, the Minister for Finance Michael Noonan T.D. said: “I am delighted to be able to sign the OECD Multilateral Convention on behalf of Ireland.  This places Ireland among the first cohort of countries to meet the new OECD standards on tax treaties. This Convention represents a very important step in the implementation of the OECD recommendations on global tax reform and tackling tax avoidance”.
“Tax treaties are an important component of the international tax framework and the global trading environment. This Convention will ensure that Ireland’s extensive network of tax treaties will continue to facilitate trade and investment and provide certainty to taxpayers”.
