Double Irish’s Slow Death Leaves Google Executives Calm

As executives pore over the slow death of the “Double Irish” tax shelter favored by U.S. companies, their reaction seems to be: don’t panic.

The tax break, which allows companies to avoid paying levies on much of their income, will be closed to new entrants from January, Irish Finance Minister Michael Noonan said in parliament in Dublin yesterday, as he laid out the 2015 budget. Companies already enjoying the tax break can continue to do so until the end of 2020, he said.