The European Parliament is criticising the European Commission’s reluctance to target Member States for not exchanging tax information, in a resolution analysing the application of EU tax rules adopted on Thursday 16 September by a large majority (561 votes in favour, 12 against, 116 abstentions) (see EUROPE 12681/20).
“Progress in European tax regulation has not been matched with equal ambition when it comes to the effective implementation of these rules in the Member States. While sixteen Member States have implemented the rules sufficiently, we found shortcomings in ten others - Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland and Slovakia. Most worryingly, Romania has not put in place the legal framework, which is a prerequisite for the exchange of tax information”, said rapporteur Sven Giegold (Greens/EFA, Germany) on Wednesday 15 September during the plenary debate.
He also identified “worrying gaps” in the measures taken by 18 Member States to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.
The rapporteur also deplored the fact that ”the European Commission has not opened a single case of treaty violation because of the lack of effective implementation of the tax information exchange”.
Calling for an ambitious revision of the Directive on Administrative Cooperation in Tax Matters (ACD8), Mr Giegold advocated that this reform should include “the assets and income of real estate companies” within the scope of EU rules.
Reacting to the resolution, EU Taxation Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni said he supported most of the Parliament’s recommendations. Some of these could be included in the ‘DAC 8’ legislative review, scheduled for the “first quarter of 2022”, he noted, such as the obligation to automatically exchange information on tax rulings involving individuals, although this point still needs to be further developed.
The plenary adopted an amendment from the Greens/EFA, The Left and S&D groups asking the European Commission to “urgently determine” whether the practice of shadow tax rulings in Luxembourg, uncovered by the LuxLetters revelations (see EUROPE 12754/20), which led to the non-reporting of informal arrangements in accordance with the ‘DAC 3’ directive, violates EU rules, and to act accordingly.
See the text of Parliament’s resolution: https://bit.ly/2Zc2wf3 (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)