Businesses in the European Union will find it
harder to avoid paying taxes under new proposals by the bloc's
executive, which wants to crack down on tax evasion at a time when
member states are trimming spending to tackle funding shortfalls.
Around 1 trillion euros (1.3 trillion dollars) are lost annually
in the EU due to tax evasion, according to EU Tax Commissioner
Algirdas Semeta.
"Not only is this is a scandalous loss of much-needed revenue, it
is also a threat to fair taxation," Semeta said. "In a single market,
within a globalised economy, national mismatches and loopholes become
the playthings of those that seek to escape taxation."
The European Commission called on member states to blacklist
countries considered tax havens, adding to the global criteria of
transparency and information exchange a third benchmark, on fair
competition - or whether countries grant unfair tax benefits.
It also called on member states to use existing and new measures
to cut down on "aggressive tax planning" in which companies exploit
legal technicalities to avoid paying taxes.
BusinessEurope, the European confederation of employers, welcomed
the commission's objectives, but also called for simpler tax regimes
within the EU.
"Greater ambition is required to remove the numerous cross-border
tax obstacles in Europe that remain a barrier to allowing
growth-enhancing trade across the single market," BusinessEurope
wrote in a statement.
Semeta said the commission had also launched infringement
proceedings against Luxembourg, over a reduced sales tax on digital
books which benefits online retailer Amazon, which has a base in the
principality.
