EC adopts Parent-Subsidiary anti-abuse clause

The European Council has formally adopted the common anti-abuse clause of the Parent-Subsidiary Directive following the agreement reached by finance ministers in December. The new clause will allow member states to introduce tighter domestic or double tax treaty anti-abuse provisions for corporate groups.

European tax commissioner Pierre Moscovici welcomed the move saying it ‘paves the way for other measures in this area. In particular we are committed to extending the automatic exchange of information on tax rulings and we will present a legal proposal by Spring 2015.’

The Parent-Subsidiary Directive was originally conceived to prevent same-group companies based in different member states from being taxed twice on the same income (avoidance of double taxation). However certain companies have exploited provisions in the Directive and mismatches between national tax rules to avoid being taxed at all in any member state (double non-taxation). The...