On Thursday 21 February, the committee on economic and monetary affairs of the European Parliament adopted, by a large majority, draft reports on the two legislative proposals aiming to introduce a common base, on the one hand, and consolidation, on the other, to corporate taxation (ACIS in its non-consolidated version).
Alain Lamassoure said that it was a giant step for the EU to adapt its tax system to the digital age. The EU is our best chance of making our taxation system fairer and more modern, added Tang.
The provisions aiming to introduce the concept of a 'permanent virtual establishment' in the digital age are relatively unchanged from the proposals of Tang (S&D, Netherlands) and Lamassoure (EPP, France), the rapporteurs (see EUROPE 11827).
The main changes born of the negotiations between the political parties concern matters such as the turnover threshold for multinationals to be required to subscribe to the CCCTB: from €40 million proposed by the rapporteurs, this threshold has been raised to €750 million, as per the Commission's initial proposal (see EUROPE 11647). This figure would be reduced to 0 after the text had been in force for seven years.
Rather than the super-deductions called for by the Commission, the Parliamentary compromise offers the possibility of a tax credit of 10% of the costs for research and development, as long as these costs do not exceed €20 million.
The tax incentive to reduce discrimination in tax treatment between loans and equity, which is similar to Italian national interest (allowance for growth and investment), has been removed from the text. Finally, where the Commission proposes limiting the tax deduction of loan interest to 30% of the company's earnings before deduction of interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), the draft 'Tang' report reduced these figures to 10%.
The question of a minimum tax rate did not enjoy majority support, but certain political groups, particularly the Greens/EFA and S&D, plan to re-table amendments to this effect ahead of the plenary. (Original version in French by Élodie Lamer)