"Will bank secrecy soon be a thing of the past? Do Depardieu and
others in Europe have reason to be worried? Is it game over for Google,
Starbucks, Amazon and others?"
The following are excerpts of a wide-ranging interview with Mr. Algirdas Semeta, the EU
commissioner for taxation." - by Tanguy Verhoosel
Q: Would creating a common consolidated corporate tax base be a miracle cure for a lot of the Union’s problems?
" don’t believe in miracle solutions in any sector. But it is true that setting up the CCCTB could help resolve certain difficulties related to the distribution of companies’ earnings for tax purposes, and consequently to erosion of the tax base. The question of transfer pricing, in particular, would be settled, at least at EU level. So the debate absolutely has to be shifted from the technical level to the political level on certain key elements of the CCCTB proposal: the consolidation of results, mandatory application of the proposal to certain types of undertakings, etc."
Q: Eleven countries will be launching enhanced cooperation on the FTT. Do you think the same scenario is possible on other tax issues, like the CCCTB?
"In theory, yes. But before we discuss that eventuality, let’s wait to see how the debate by the 27 evolves."
AQ: The new directive on administrative cooperation in the field of taxation contains a most favoured nation clause. Will it require Luxembourg and Austria to abolish their bank secrecy if they make concessions to the United States on automatic information exchange as part of the FATCA negotiations?
"Under this clause, a member state that offers better information exchange conditions to a non-EU country than to its European partners is obliged to offer them the same treatment if they so request. Legally, things are clear. Politically, in any case, it is hard to imagine a non-EU country being given better conditions than Union states".
So Luxembourg and Austria are trapped?
"Luxembourg’s Finance Minister, Luc Frieden, recently showed a somewhat open attitude. So I’m expecting positive developments. The debate on FATCA has changed the international atmosphere."
Q: If the 27 manage to strike a deal on savings taxation in the European Union, won’t we still have the stumbling block of certain non-EU states, in particular Switzerland? Luxembourg and Vienna insist on being on an equal footing with Berne.
"I don’t think so. Switzerland is negotiating an agreement with the United States. Given its proximity and close relations with the Union, Switzerland should logically have to offer similar treatment to the 27".
Q: Is the Rubik model, based on the withholding principle, dead and buried, in your opinion?
"I don’t know, but what is certain is that there has always been too much importance attached to Rubik. The scope of the agreements Switzerland has signed with the UK and Austria had to be pared down to the areas not covered by existing and future EU legislation on savings taxation. This legislation is being revised and the three countries were obliged to take this into account."
Swiss private bankers recently proposed to trade Switzerland’s bank secrecy for access to the EU’s financial services market. What do you think of that idea?"
"I don’t want to speculate on concessions that might be made to Switzerland in other policy areas. But I don’t see why we couldn’t discuss any proposals Berne may present. Meanwhile, let’s be clear: exploiting bank secrecy to do business is an obsolete concept when you consider what is happening today, in particular with the United States, and what is going to happen. On the one hand, the UK has committed to make tackling tax fraud and evasion a top priority of its G8 presidency in 2013. On the other, we’re working actively in the OECD to make automatic information exchange between administrations the international standard on tax transparency."
Read more: 28/01/2013 2013, year of truth for EU tax harmonisation
