The Higher Council of Accountants in France took advantage of its congress in Brussels on Wednesday 28 and Thursday 29 October to submit tax proposals to EU Taxation Commissioner Pierre Moscovici.
In a press release, the Higher Council said its proposals are supported by Germany, Italy, Spain and Belgium.
For VAT, the Higher Council recommends extending the VAT reverse charge mechanism from the purchase of investment goods and services to other sectors. The accountants say this will improve companies’ treasuries and fight fraud. The reverse charge mechanism transfers payment of VAT from supplier to the end recipient of the goods in question, in other words moving away from the typical split payment of VAT. The Commission abandons the idea in its action plan on the future of VAT (see EUROPE 11498, 11508, 11509). Several accountants from different areas said recently at the European Parliament that the reverse charge mechanism should not be implemented temporarily or in an isolated manner (see EUROPE 11614). Some derogations are available for member states. The Czech Republic has been calling for months for a pilot project on a generalised reverse charge VAT system. The Commission resisted this at first but had to give way when the Czech Republic made a proposal from the Commission in this connection a precondition for its support for another Commission directive (see EUROPE 11575).
In their proposals, the French accountants also recommend a European-level definition of tax incentives. They write that member states would be free to decide on the size of tax incentives within EU thresholds.
The accountants suggest introducing an EU framework for tax rates on company profits that they say should be selected within ranges set by the EU, as already happens for VAT. (Original version in French by Élodie Lamer)