Category: Pierre Moscovici

Moscovici: CCCTB Is A Tool Against Tax Avoidance

EU Tax Commissioner Pierre Moscovici has described the proposed common consolidated corporation tax base as a “decisive tool against corporate tax avoidance.” Moscovici made the comment during a speech on tax fairness. He said the CCCTB will provide companies with a single rulebook for calculating their taxable profit throughout the… – Continue reading

Commission welcomes adoption of new rules to block #TaxAvoidance

The agreed rules will stop companies from escaping tax by exploiting the mismatches between Member States’ and non-EU countries’ tax systems (“hybrid mismatches”). Today’s (29 May) agreement completes the Anti Tax Avoidance Directive (ATAD) which ensures that binding and robust anti-abuse measures are applied throughout the Single Market. “Our campaign… – Continue reading

EU To Crack Down On Promotion Of Aggressive Tax Planning

The European Commission has launched a public consultation on how best to deter promoters of aggressive tax planning schemes. The Commission said it is particularly interested in gathering views on how a mandatory disclosure scheme for tax advisers could be put in place. If implemented, this would require intermediaries to… – Continue reading

Brussels aims to harmonise corporate tax by 2021

The European Commission has unveiled its latest plan to harmonise corporate tax. After two past failures, the executive hopes the recent flurry of tax scandals will give the project a new lease of life. The EU has revived its tax crusade with a new attempt to establish a Common Consolidated… – Continue reading

EU Cautioned on Plans to Regulate Tax Advisers

European Union plans to regulate tax advisers in an effort to clamp down on aggressive tax planning and tax avoidance could prove excessive, ineffective and trigger unfair competition, accountants and lawyers warn. The caution comes after EU finance ministers moved Oct. 11 to authorize the European Commission to draw up… – Continue reading

EU to black list tax havens, EU Commissioner Moscovisi says

A list on non-cooperative tax jurisdictions around the world, the first ever common EU list, is being under preparation, Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs Pierre Moscovici has said. “This month, we started the process that will lead, by the end of 2017, to the first ever… – Continue reading

UK overseas territories could be affected by EU tax crackdown

Eight British overseas territories and crown dependencies, including Jersey, the British Virgin Islands and Cayman Islands, could face EU economic sanctions after Brussels identified them as having low or no corporation tax. Experts have published a scorecard showing red flag warnings set against a list of the 81 countries that… – Continue reading

Push for EU mandatory disclosure of tax avoidance schemes

Slovakia, the current president of the EU council, challenges finance ministers from all the EU member states to introduce mandatory disclosure rules for intermediaries including accountants who seek to profit from the promotion, design or implementation of tax avoidance schemes The proposals were outlined in a ‘presidency issues’ note presented… – Continue reading

EU countries eye potential share of Apple windfall

Potential slice of the Apple pie stems from Commission’s invitation to EU tax authorities. BRATISLAVA — The €13 billion clawback of unpaid taxes from U.S. tech giant Apple has piqued the interests of EU finance ministers, who have today asked the European Commission for more details on the potential share… – Continue reading

EU considers blacklisting NZ over tax laws

Possible EU sanctions against New Zealand could make travel harder and have a massive effect on the economy. New Zealand is under investigation by the EU as it prepares a blacklist of global tax havens, Newshub revealed on Monday night. The grouping of 28 European nations has compiled a list… – Continue reading

Monaco signs up to EU’s tax transparency scheme

The EU has signed a fiscal transparency agreement with Monaco in an attempt to stop Europeans hiding undeclared income in the Mediterranean principality. EurActiv Spain reports. Famous for its glamorous casinos and annual Formula One race, Monaco is also known for not levying income tax and for being somewhat of… – Continue reading

EU Seeks to Fill Tax-Avoidance Gaps in Wake of Panama Leaks

The European Union, faced with mounting anti-establishment furor from populist parties across the region, is speeding up efforts to thwart tax dodging after the Panama Papers leaks and wants its blacklist of tax havens ready next year. “The recent leaks exposed loopholes that still allow tax evaders to hide funds… – Continue reading

EU agrees on tax avoidance measures aimed at multinationals

European Union member states have struck a deal on new rules designed to eliminate the most common corporate tax avoidance practices. The measures in the Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive target the main forms of tax avoidance practiced by large multinationals and builds on global standards developed by the Organisation for Economic… – Continue reading

EU agrees anti-tax evasion deal

Brussels (AFP) – The European Union agreed a raft of anti-tax evasion measures Tuesday that would make it harder for multinationals to shift profits to countries with lower taxes, but critics said they were too watered down. The proposals were agreed on provisionally by the EU’s 28 finance ministers on… – Continue reading

Irish corporate tax regime attacked in EU debate

Sinn Fein’s Matt Carthy has launched a stinging attack on Ireland’s corporate tax regime, arguing that Ireland’s reputation as an “enabler of massive tax avoidance for large corporations” is justified. Addressing the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Tuesday, the Midlands-North West MEP criticised the last government’s move to abolish the… – Continue reading

EU threatens sanctions on money laundering, tax evasion havens

BERLIN – A European Union official threatened Thursday to sanction Panama and other nations if they don’t cooperate fully to fight money laundering and tax evasion, after a leak of data showed the small country remains a key destination for people wanting to hide money. The 11.5 million documents from… – Continue reading

European Commission sets action plan for VAT simplification

The European Commission has set out a proposed action plan to modernise the EU VAT system in a move which should give more freedom to the member states The action plan will include new rules such as the implementation of key principles for a future single European VAT system, short… – Continue reading

EU Warns Multinationals: Stop Shifting Revenues to Tax Havens

Their tax avoidance is costing EU countries an estimated $80 billion per year. Multinational companies must pay taxes where they earn profits and stop using aggressive tax optimization schemes, the European Union’s Economics Commissioner Pierre Moscovici said on Monday. Moscovi told French radio RTL that the EU had to put… – Continue reading

Where next for Corporation Tax?

The amount of tax multinational companies pay – and the amount they don’t pay – has become highly controversial, writes RTÉ’s Economics Correspondent Sean Whelan. This is mainly as a result of public outrage over legal tax avoidance schemes that big companies can use to shelter vast amounts of money… – Continue reading

EU and Andorra sign deal to curb tax evasion

The EU and Andorra have signed a new tax transparency agreement that will make it harder for EU citizens to stash undeclared income in financial institutions in Andorra. The agreement is in line with EU’s effort to increase tax transparency and tackle tax avoidance and evasion. This deal complies with… – Continue reading

Ikea avoiding tax liability, report claims

EU countries may have lost out on more than €1 billion in tax revenues between 2009 and 2014 due to aggressive tax strategies by furniture giantIkea, a new report has claimed. The report, commissioned by the Green/EFA group in the European Parliament into the tax affairs of the private company,… – Continue reading

Election is the calm in the storm of maintaining a competitive corporate tax regime

When Tim Cook and his two senior Apple colleagues were questioned by a US Senate sub-committee back in May 2013, the headlines generated in the world’s business press were unsettling. Some lawmakers repeatedly characterised Ireland as a tax haven, saying behemoth Apple channelled billions of dollars of global revenues generated… – Continue reading

The Tax Avoidance Battle: Nations vs. Multinationals

At least this is the goal – member states safeguarding their social models by preventing trans-border operating multinational companies from avoiding “their fair share” of the tax burden. According to the European Commission, small and medium-sized enterprises in the EU pay 30% higher tax burden than large multinational companies. With… – Continue reading

New EU rules to curb tax avoidance among giant multinational firms, following Google’s £130m “sweetheart” tax deal with HMRC

The European Commission proposed a set of new rules to curb tax avoidance by large companies. This follows Google’s £130m “sweetheart” tax deal with UK’s HM Revenue and Customs to allegedly avoid paying its fair share of corporate tax that spreads across ten years. Euronews reported that one of the… – Continue reading

EU Moves to Close Profit-Shifting Tax Loophole

The European Parliamentary Research Service has estimated that corporate tax-dodging costs the EU between $54.5 billion and $76.4 billion a year. The European Commission has proposed a package of measures to clamp down on corporate tax avoiders that would close a loophole companies have used to shift profits to low-tax… – Continue reading

Fair Taxation: Commission presents new measures against corporate tax avoidance

Today’s proposals aim for a coordinated EU wide response to corporate tax avoidance, following global standards developed by the OECD last autumn. New rules are needed to align the tax laws in all 28 EU countries in order to fight aggressive tax practices by large companies efficiently and effectively. The… – Continue reading

EU Seeks Broader Crackdown On Corporate Tax Loopholes

BRUSSELS (Alliance News) – The EU stepped up the fight against corporate tax avoidance Thursday, unveiling proposals including an EU-wide blacklist of international tax havens, as part of a wider clampdown on firms using loopholes to reduce their tax bills. The EU’s executive estimates that member states are deprived of… – Continue reading

Africa: EU Anti-Tax Avoidance Package Will Fail to End the Era of Tax Havens, Warns Oxfam

Despite EU intentions to crack down on tax avoidance, the European Commission’s Anti-Tax Avoidance Package does not do what it says on the tin, warns Oxfam, and developing countries will feel the EU’s failure most. The package comes a week after the international NGO revealed that just 62 people own… – Continue reading

Europe cracks down on tax dodgers

Directive follows a series of high-profile tax cases involving Google, Apple and others. Rampant corporate tax dodging and sweetheart deals that cheat governments and skew markets, have prompted the European Commission to unveil a new directive Thursday. The proposed legislation follows a quick succession of tax rulings, settlements and investigations… – Continue reading

EU to clamp down on corporate tax avoidance schemes

Multinational companies are facing severe constraints on their ability to avoid taxes on their activities in Europe as regulators seek to close loopholes laid bare by the LuxLeaks scandal Pierre Moscovici, the EU’s tax policy chief, will set out plans next week to curb practices such as using debt interest… – Continue reading

European Commission plans threaten change to Irish tax system

Ireland’s insistence that it is not a tax haven and that in fact other EU countries have tax regimes that facilitate tax dodging by multinationals will be borne out by a study to be released next week. But while this will be good news to Finance Minister Michael Noonan a… – Continue reading

EU to revive common tax base plan, propose binding corporate tax rules

Reforms to corporate tax rules and fiscal transparency will be pursued by EU policy makers in 2016, the EU’s tax commissioner Pierre Moscovici has said. “We have a serious problem with tax avoidance and lack of transparency. Too many people have looked the other way,” Moscovici said. Moscovici told a… – Continue reading

BEHIND THE HEADLINES: Tax haven hypocrisy

A BALANCING ACT in London, folly and redemption in America’s District of Columbia and sheer hypocrisy in Brussels. And in every case, Barbados and many of its Caribbean neighbours were placed in the negative international spotlight at a time when some of the world’s major financial centres are casting about… – Continue reading

Fighting tax evasion: EU and the Republic of San Marino sign new tax transparency agreement

The new agreement marks the end of bank secrecy between San Marino and the EU. As of 2017, San Marino and EU Member States will automatically exchange information on the financial accounts of one another’s residents. Pierre Moscovici, Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs, said: “This agreement… – Continue reading

Finance meeting to be dominated by corporate tax

Ministers due to adopt conclusions on future of EU’s code of conduct on business taxation Corporate tax will top today’s meeting of EU finance ministers in Brussels, as ministers discuss the latest state of play regarding the common consolidated corporate tax base (CCCTB) and cross-border tax rulings. In particular, finance… – Continue reading

Chris Blackhurst: Britain’s island tax havens need action

Amid all the diplomatic comings and goings on Syria and how to tackle Islamic State, an important but little-noticed high-level gathering has been taking place in London. The Overseas Territories were holding the fourth meeting of their Joint Ministerial Council at Lancaster House. Leaders from Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands,… – Continue reading

Panton seeks Cayman’s removal from non-cooperative tax list

As the Joint Ministerial Council meeting continues in London this week Financial Services Minister Hon Wayne Panton says he intends to meet with European States in a bid to have Cayman removed from their lists of third-country, Non-cooperative Tax Jurisdictions. The minister, speaking at the last sitting of the Legislative… – Continue reading

EU committee to vote on plans to curb tax avoidance

EU committee to vote on plans to curb tax avoidance EU countries should be compelled to inform other member states in advance of plans to introduce tax initiatives that could affect their own or another country’s effective tax rate, according to a report to be considered by the European Parliament’s… – Continue reading

2015- The end of tax neutral jurisdictions

On 18 June 2013, the Progressive led government issued a press release titled, “Cayman’s Action Plan Includes Beneficial Ownership”. The press statement came on the heels of the UK taking over the Presidency of G8, at the 17-18 June 2013 G8 Summit in Northern Ireland. The most interesting part of… – Continue reading

Fighting tax evasion: EU and Andorra finalise negotiations on new tax transparency agreement

Today the EU and Andorra initialled the text of a new tax transparency agreement, marking another important step forward in the fight against tax evasion. Under the new agreement, Andorra and EU Member States will automatically exchange information on the financial accounts of each other’s residents from 2018. Pierre Moscovici,… – Continue reading

Fighting tax evasion: EU and Liechtenstein sign new tax transparency agreement

Under the new agreement, Liechtenstein and EU Member States will automatically exchange information on the financial accounts of each other’s residents from 2017. Pierre Moscovici, Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs, said: “Today the EU and Liechtenstein are sending out a clear message: we are partners in… – Continue reading

Caribbean likely to suffer collateral damage from tax havens crackdown

A little over a week ago the British parliamentarian, Sir Eric Pickles – a cabinet member until May of this year and a former Chairman of the Conservative Party – told the London Guardian that the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, was determined to have the BVI and the Cayman… – Continue reading

Facebook lobbyists face ban ban from European Parliament

EU committee set up to investigate aggressive tax planning concludes its report in weeks Lobbyists representing internet company Facebook could be banned from entering the European Parliament following a request by the parliament’s special committee on tax to revoke access to multinationals who refused to cooperate with the committee’s inquiries…. – Continue reading

Moscovici resolute on common corporate tax base

EU commissioner urges member states to ensure fair share of tax is paid EU economics commissioner Pierre Moscovici reiterated his commitment to re-launch the Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base yesterday, urging all EU member states to ensure that companies pay their fair share of tax. Speaking following a meeting of… – Continue reading