While in other areas the Croatian Presidency of the EU Council is committed to doing its utmost to reach agreements on several pieces of legislation (see other news), its programme for the next six months regarding taxation contains few concrete commitments.
Zagreb promises to work towards a “modern tax system (which) should be based on transparent, efficient and sustainable taxation procedures that ensure legal certainty for all stakeholders” while “strengthening growth, investment and the competitiveness of the single market”.
But Croatia is not making any promises on still open legislation. Many dossiers were completed under the previous Finnish Presidency (see EUROPE 12387/31) and only the most difficult ones are now on the table.
Thus, according to its provisional timetable, the Croatian Presidency plans to hold a policy debate at the Ecofin Council on 17 March on the definitive VAT system (see EUROPE 11876/15) and on the reform of VAT rates - two dossiers on which discussions in the EU Council have stalled.
Another blocked file: the Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB) proposal. Here again, the provisional timetable provides for either a simple progress report or a policy debate at the Ecofin Council on 19 May.
It should be noted that both the programme and the provisional timetable don’t mention the proposal for ‘country by country reporting’ (CBCR), which would require companies to make public certain accounting data such as their turnover. No mention is made in either the section on taxation or the section on competitiveness.
At the Competitiveness Council of 28 November, Croatia was one of the 12 Member States to oppose the legislation on the table (see EUROPE 12379/13). Nevertheless, Croatia had promised that, under its Presidency, reflection would continue with a view to finding a solution offering “the necessary legal certainty and sustainability”.
Read the Croatian priorities: http://bit.ly/2toY1xK (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)