EU Leaders to Urge Stepped-Up Fight Against Tax Evasion
EU leaders attending today’s summit in Brussels will call for a renewed push against tax evasion as cash-strapped nations seek more ways to refill depleted government coffers.
“There is an urgent need to advance efforts in the fight against tax avoidance and aggressive tax planning, both at the global and EU levels,” leaders will say, according to a draft of the meeting statement dated yesterday. The European Commission is due to propose automatic exchange of information among nations on the tax deals they strike with companies, with leaders expecting a progress report by June.
EU governments may be missing out on 120 billion euros ($150 billion) by not collecting all of the corporate taxes they are owed, according to a new estimate today from Oxfam International. The group cited economist Gabriel Zucman’s estimate of 50 billion euro in revenue lost each year from wealth stored in tax havens, along with an Oxfam estimate of a 70 billion-euro gap between what countries receive and what they should be owed.
Tax issues have gained renewed prominence as Europe grapples with a prolonged economic slowdown and euro-area nations struggle to stay below budget thresholds. The Brussels-based commission warned last month that it could impose fines on France, Italy and Belgium unless they do more to cut deficits and make their economies more competitive.
