The European Parliament adopted the report by Luděk Niedermayer (EPP, Czech Republic) on fair and simplified taxation in support of the recovery strategy in plenary session on Thursday (10 March) by 476 votes to 78 with 129 abstentions.
The text recommends that the European Commission adopt a single VAT registration in the EU by 2023. It also calls for measures to reduce the tax burden on SMEs, both financially and administratively. It also encourages greater cooperation between Member States through improved information exchange. The harmonised single tax return and the one-stop shop will be the tools (see EUROPE 12883/19).
“There are disparities between Member States. We need to create single standards, in digital format, before everyone creates their own incompatible standards”, Niedermayer argued.
With the European economy already battered by the Covid-19 pandemic and set to be further battered by the war in Ukraine, “rather than raising taxes, it’s better to collect them”, he added. Tax fraud and evasion have a “strong EU dimension”.
For Paolo Gentiloni, Commissioner for Economy, this directive “is a piece of the puzzle” with the OECD agreement on international tax reform. (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)