Governments that offer multi-national firms sweetheart tax deals
should not be allowed to benefit if the European Union orders them to
claw back the aid, according to a new report by the European
Parliament’s special committee on tax rulings.
Instead, the proceeds should be “returned to the member states which have suffered from an erosion of their tax bases or to the EU budget, and not to the member state which granted the illegal tax-related aid, as is currently the case,” the report contends.
The European Commission is still investigating whether so-called ‘sweetheart’ tax agreements in Ireland, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, involving companies such a Apple, Starbucks and Fiat, constitute illegal state aid. The probe could lead to hundreds of millions of euros in new taxes being paid to the governments in question, despite the fact that they were responsible for offering special tax treatment.
The cross-party inquiry committee was set up in February in the wake of the “LuxLeaks” scandal, in which reporters disclosed the extent of tax-avoidance structures in Luxembourg allowing companies to benefit from significant reductions to their tax rate on income earned from intellectual property.
Also included in the 40-page draft report by Michael Theurer, a German liberal, and Elisa Ferreira, the Socialist group spokesperson on economic affairs, are recommendations that firms which refused to assist the committee investigation should be banned from the EU’s Transparency Register allowing them to access the EU institutions.
The MEPs also call for comprehensive exchange of tax information between European countries alongside a common consolidated corporate tax base.
Read more: Luxleaks committee demands overhaul of EU tax rules
Instead, the proceeds should be “returned to the member states which have suffered from an erosion of their tax bases or to the EU budget, and not to the member state which granted the illegal tax-related aid, as is currently the case,” the report contends.
The European Commission is still investigating whether so-called ‘sweetheart’ tax agreements in Ireland, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, involving companies such a Apple, Starbucks and Fiat, constitute illegal state aid. The probe could lead to hundreds of millions of euros in new taxes being paid to the governments in question, despite the fact that they were responsible for offering special tax treatment.
The cross-party inquiry committee was set up in February in the wake of the “LuxLeaks” scandal, in which reporters disclosed the extent of tax-avoidance structures in Luxembourg allowing companies to benefit from significant reductions to their tax rate on income earned from intellectual property.
Also included in the 40-page draft report by Michael Theurer, a German liberal, and Elisa Ferreira, the Socialist group spokesperson on economic affairs, are recommendations that firms which refused to assist the committee investigation should be banned from the EU’s Transparency Register allowing them to access the EU institutions.
The MEPs also call for comprehensive exchange of tax information between European countries alongside a common consolidated corporate tax base.
Read more: Luxleaks committee demands overhaul of EU tax rules
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