The services of the Commission with responsibility for taxation are taking their return to work after the summer break very seriously. The rest of this year will see a whole raft of initiatives.
"There is a head of steam on taxation issues that mustn't go to waste. We need to make progress in all areas at the same time", the Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Pierre Moscovici, told a group of journalists on Thursday 8 September.
In the autumn, the Commission will launch a public consultation on the issue of tax intermediaries to find out more about the practices of those promoting aggressive tax planning schemes. The aim will be to take inspiration from an OECD recommendation in its BEPS project to fight base erosion and profit shifting.
The Slovak Presidency of the Council of the EU will start discussions on this subject with the member states in Bratislava this weekend. Readers may recall that in a document prepared ahead of this meeting, it discusses the possibility of amendments to the directive on administrative cooperation, to add rules on 'obligatory disclosure' in order to require the member states to include these in their national legislation. They will have to include a minimum standard requiring any scheme to circumnavigate the automatic exchange of information standard on financial accounts to be disclosed. The offshore tax evasion schemes used in Panama Papers will also be covered.
A proposal for a 'DAC6', meaning further amendments to the directive on administrative cooperation, is anticipated for January 2017.
On 9 November, the Commission is theoretically to present a new tax package: two proposals on harmonisation, relaunching its 'common consolidated corporate tax base' (CCCTB). Each of these proposals will correspond to different stages of the implementation of the CCCTB: one will aim to define the base and the second will make it possible for businesses to consolidate their losses and profits in the future. The Commission has decided to move forward in stages, as this 'consolidation' aspect went down badly with some of the states. Business has expressed concern at this delay.
On the same day, the Commission is also expected to present a proposal on a resolution mechanism for tax disputes resulting from double taxation affecting companies from a number of different member states. It carried out a public consultation, launched in February of this year, prior to this proposal.
9 November is only the theoretical date at this stage, as the Commission wants to be to present its proposals earlier if possible. If it is able to do so, its tax package may also contain proposed amendments to the anti-tax avoidance directive approved a little earlier this year. This proposal is expected for October. In its current version, as regards hybrid mismatches, the directive covers only intra-EU situations. It will therefore aim to broaden the scope also to cover situations with third countries. Agreement by the end of this year is the objective.
Finally, before the end of the year, in the framework of the digital single market strategy, the Commission will propose measures to modernise and streamline VAT for cross-border electronic trade. An initiative is also expected in order to bring the tax treatment of electronic publications into line with that of paper publications, which enjoy reduced rates, whilst e-books do not. (Original version in French by Élodie Lamer)