(March 26, 2015) 

On March 25, 2015 the European Parliament had what was called a tax debate. During the debate Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) a.o. debated the European Commission's “tax transparency package” with Commissioner Pierre Moscovici.

During the debate the European Parliament adopted a non-legislative resolution on the Annual Tax Report. The resolution touches a wide variety of tax-related issues. According to a press release as issued by the European Parliament the Resolution was passed by 444 votes to 110, with 41 abstentions.

In the resolution the European Parliament a.o.:

·       Welcomes the agreement on the Automatic Exchange of Information and the prospects for a swift implementation thereof; calls in this regard for the definitive abolition of banking secrecy within the EU as of June 2015;

·       Calls for tax agreements to be concluded also with third countries before June 30, 2015 and calls on the Commission to open negotiations with other third countries, including, but not limited to, Singapore;

·       Calls for pilot projects on the automatic exchange of tax information with developing countries to be implemented for a transitional and non-reciprocal period when implementing the new global standard;

·       Stresses that coordinated action at EU level, including in the context of the Code of Conduct on Business Taxation, is necessary to pursue the application of standards of transparency with regard to third countries; calls on the Commission and the Member States to incorporate these standards into future trade agreements;

·       Insists on the general principle that taxes must be paid where public services are consumed; strongly condemns aggressive tax policies inducing taxpayers to shift their tax base out of countries in which they consume public services or benefit from a labour force which does so;

·       Condemns the secret agreements on tax exemptions signed between certain Member States and certain multinationals with the aim of attracting companies, to the detriment of other Member States’ tax systems and the proper functioning of free competition, the efficient allocation of resources and the internal market;

·       Calls on the Commission to come forward with a proposal to simplify legislation on VAT return obligations in order to reduce administrative burdens for EU businesses and to facilitate cross-border trade;

·       Calls on Member States to swiftly agree to a CCCTB which would be compulsory in a first step for European companies and European cooperative societies and, in a second step, for all other companies except for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, as provided for in the abovementioned Parliament’s position of 19 April 2012 on the proposal for a Council directive on a Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB);

·       Calls on the Commission to carefully study the options for the introduction of a minimum rate of corporation tax as a means of curbing damaging tax competition;

·       Requests that information exchange be extended to cross-border tax rulings to ensure that all companies operating in the EU fulfil their obligations in all MSs and enhance transparency; underlines the fact that the exchange of information should not distort competition;

·       Calls upon the Commission to intensify its use of EU state aid rules against aggressive tax planning; considers that the Commission should investigate all tax ruling cases to verify that they are not breaking EU state aid rules by providing selective tax benefits for some companies;

·       Calls on the Commission to propose, and on Member States to agree on, a common EU position and a broadened set of detailed criteria for the definition of tax havens and coordinated penalties to be imposed on uncooperative jurisdictions; calls for a blacklist to be drawn up of such tax havens and countries distorting competition with favourable tax conditions, including those in the EU, by June 30, 2015;

·       Calls on Member States to shift the tax burden away from labour to other forms of sustainable taxation, with the aim of ensuring that fair contributions are made by all economic and financial sectors and in order to promote growth and high-quality job creation;

Click here to be forwarded to the provisional text of the resolution.

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