Brussels, 30/03/2015 (Agence Europe) - At a joint meeting of the committee on economic and monetary affairs (ECON) and of the special committee on tax rulings (TAXE) of the European Parliament on Monday 30 March, Commissioner for Taxation Pierre Moscovici argued for a genuine single European market from a taxation point of view.
He said that, as far as businesses are concerned, disparate tax rules “segment the single market, meaning that complying is extremely expensive” whilst, from the point of view of the tax administrations, it is the collection of taxation which is at stake.
On the proposed automatic exchange of information on tax rulings, he said that EU action went beyond what the OECD is calling for. This organisation has proposed a spontaneous exchange (which it considers equivalent to automatic) on tax rulings. The OECD's action plan to fight tax optimisation, BEPS (“base erosion and profit shifting”) “has changed many things”, Moscovici acknowledged. However, he stressed that the OECD's recommendations called for an exchange on rulings “providing for preferential treatment, we are proposing a broader scope, we are going further”, he said. He went on to stress the legally binding nature of the European legislation. In response to criticism that, with its proposal on rulings, the Commission was going no further than to clarify an obligation which already existed under the directive on administrative cooperation, he explained that the existing texts provided for a spontaneous exchange. In this situation, “you receive information or you don't receive it, you get information quickly or not at all, and you get full information or you don't”.
He reiterated that he aims to go further in transparency. Referring to country-by-country reporting, he said that the first option was the one recommended by the Parliament, that is, extending the financial transparency obligations on the mining industry (accounting standards directive) to all sectors, “the Commission is ready to work on this subject”, while the second alternative would consist of implementing the OECD's recommendations on this issue. “Transparency means public”, he however added, expressing his personal opinion. The OECD is moving towards country-by-country reporting to the tax authorities. The Commission has announced an impact study on the issue, “not to bury the issue”, as one MEP suggested, Moscovici said. He would like to go as far as possible towards transparency without harming competitiveness. The question of corporate transparency, however, lies outside the Commissioner's remit, but he is also calling for transparency from tax consultants.
On the common consolidated corporate tax base (CCCTB), Moscovici argued in favour of “moving forward as a group of twenty-eight”, whilst encouraging enhanced cooperation on the financial transactions tax. In the past, he has suggested that this tax could pave the way for enhanced cooperation on another taxation issues. Lastly, he called for a more “forceful” code of conduct (corporate taxation). (Elodie Lamer)