Several members of the independent commission for the international corporate taxation (ICRICT), including the economists Thomas Piketty and Joseph Stiglitz and the MEP Eva Joly (Greens/EFA, France), consider that unitary taxation of multinational companies by means of the planned common consolidated corporate tax base (CCCTB) is the “most effective way of tackling tax avoidance strategies using transfer prices”.
Whilst we support your efforts to adapt the tax system to the realities of the digital economy and, in particular, the need to revise the definition of 'permanent establishment', we remain convinced that a CCCTB “including a digital factor in order to adequately tax and apportion multinationals' profits is the best way forward”, they state in a letter to the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, dated Monday 1 October. They consider that “the long-term proposal is more robust and it would put the EU on a strong footing in the fight against tax avoidance”.
Two years after the second proposed CCCTB was tabled (see EUROPE 11647), the economists support the Commission's determination to put a proposal to the member states to decide unanimously to carry out decisions on certain taxation matters by qualified majority (see EUROPE 12098). (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)