EU, stop tax havens. Gentiloni: "Tax evasion scandal is no longer tolerable"

2020-07-15T12:57:20.412Z

The EU Commission relaunches its offensive against corporate tax evasion in Europe, and raises the bar to target those countries that grant not only "preferential measures" but which have "tax systems in place that can have the same harmful effects", removing revenue from governments and therefore from citizens. Brussels therefore proposes to modify the Code of Conduct for business taxation which has hitherto regulated the concept of 'fair tax competition' within the EU. "A lot has been done to combat tax evasion and fraud, but the work is far from complete: the international tax evasion of individuals in the EU amounts to € 46 billion per year, that of businesses to € 35 billion and VAT fraud cross-border to 50 billion. It is a scandal that can no longer be tolerated ", said Commissioner for Economy and Taxation Paolo Gentiloni, presenting the package of measures against tax evasion. "Fair taxation is the springboard that will help the economy recover from the crisis. We need to make life easier for honest citizens and businesses when it comes to paying taxes, and more difficult for scammers and tax cheaters," he said. Gentiloni again. The Commission intends to act step by step. First of all through an action plan "for fair and simple taxation that supports the recovery", which contains 25 initiatives to be implemented by 2024. Among them: reducing administrative obstacles for businesses, through a "tax simplification" which it also goes towards a European VAT system, helping authorities to share data efficiently to combat fraud and evasion, revising the directive on administrative cooperation to extend the rules on transparency also to digital platforms. States will automatically exchange information on revenue generated by online sellers, which will not only help national authorities identify where taxes are to be paid, but will also reduce the administrative burden of businesses that will not have to comply with different reporting obligations. Then there is the reform of the Code of Conduct for business taxation, to ensure that it can effectively identify and combat all forms of unfair and harmful tax competition. It is not yet a legislative proposal, but for now only a communication on which States will be able to confront. Holland? It is not paradise but it has aggressive policies "Anyone who looks objectively at the situation of the single market knows that the dangers of serious distortions on taxation exist," said the European Commissioner for Economy, Paolo Gentiloni at the press conference to present the package of proposals EU on taxation. Gentiloni was then asked if he considers Holland a tax haven. "Regarding the judgment of the European Commission on taxation in the Netherlands and beyond, it concerns 5-6 countries, our recommendations make the text - he replied - which emphasizes the risks due to aggressive taxation policies" of advantage. "We are not talking about tax havens - said Gentiloni - but about aggressive taxation policies which, in order to attract companies, risk damaging the equality of competition between countries and the Commission has always encouraged these countries to correct" their systems. Apple, even more determined on tax authorities "You can be sure that a single sentence will not discourage our commitment on the issue" of the correct taxation of profits made in the EU, "on the contrary", Gentiloni underlined, commenting, in a press video conference in Brussels, of the EU Court which annulled the Commission's decision requiring Apple to return Ireland € 13 billion of tax benefits.