The European Parliament (EP) adopted by 50 votes to 57 (with 23 abstentions) a resolution on tax avoidance and tax evasion as challenges for governance, social protection and development in developing countries. The EP also called on the European Commission to ‘take concrete and effective measures to support developing countries and regional tax administration frameworks’, and urged the EC to implement measures for greater tax transparency, including the publication of tax information via country by country reporting in all member states.
The EP also called for the following by the end of 2015: an internationally agreed definition of tax havens; penalties for operators making use of them; and a blacklist of countries, including those in the EU, that it says ‘do not combat tax evasion or that accept it’; as well as urging the EU to support the ‘economic reconversion of those developing countries that serve as tax havens’.
In addition, the EP urged the following:
member states with dependencies and territories that are not part of the EU to work with other EU administrations towards the adoption of the principles of tax transparency and to ensure that none serve as tax havens;
that, when negotiating tax and investment treaties with developing countries, income or profits resulting from cross-border activities should be taxed in the source country where value is extracted or created;
that impact assessments of European tax policies on developing countries be conducted (Parliament welcomed the EC’s revised Action Plan on tax evasion and tax avoidance, to be presented in 2015);
the member states to agree swiftly on a common consolidated corporate tax base (CCCTB);
for sanctions to be considered both for non-cooperative jurisdictions and for financial institutions that operate within tax havens;
the Commission and the Council, and on partner governments, to ensure that tax incentives do not constitute additional options for tax avoidance;
the EIB and the EBRD, and on member states’ development finance institutions, to monitor and ensure that companies or other legal entities that receive support do not participate in tax evasion and avoidance.
The European Parliament (EP) adopted by 50 votes to 57 (with 23 abstentions) a resolution on tax avoidance and tax evasion as challenges for governance, social protection and development in developing countries. The EP also called on the European Commission to ‘take concrete and effective measures to support developing countries and regional tax administration frameworks’, and urged the EC to implement measures for greater tax transparency, including the publication of tax information via country by country reporting in all member states.
The EP also called for the following by the end of 2015: an internationally agreed definition of tax havens; penalties for operators making use of them; and a blacklist of countries, including those in the EU, that it says ‘do not combat tax evasion or that accept it’; as well as urging the EU to support the ‘economic reconversion of those developing countries that serve as tax havens’.
In addition, the EP urged the following:
member states with dependencies and territories that are not part of the EU to work with other EU administrations towards the adoption of the principles of tax transparency and to ensure that none serve as tax havens;
that, when negotiating tax and investment treaties with developing countries, income or profits resulting from cross-border activities should be taxed in the source country where value is extracted or created;
that impact assessments of European tax policies on developing countries be conducted (Parliament welcomed the EC’s revised Action Plan on tax evasion and tax avoidance, to be presented in 2015);
the member states to agree swiftly on a common consolidated corporate tax base (CCCTB);
for sanctions to be considered both for non-cooperative jurisdictions and for financial institutions that operate within tax havens;
the Commission and the Council, and on partner governments, to ensure that tax incentives do not constitute additional options for tax avoidance;
the EIB and the EBRD, and on member states’ development finance institutions, to monitor and ensure that companies or other legal entities that receive support do not participate in tax evasion and avoidance.
