On Thursday 29 January, the Tax Foundation think-tank published a ‘roadmap’ to help the European Commission draw up a long-term tax simplification programme.
The Commission has announced that it will present an ‘omnibus’ package of measures concerning the simplification of tax legislation, in spring 2026 (see EUROPE 13639/3).
The Tax Foundation has identified three main challenges facing the Commission during this process: an economic challenge, a measurement challenge and a long-term institutional challenge. It sees economic factors as the driving force behind simplification: by focusing on growth, quantitative analysis and institutional change, the Commission can show leadership in tax policy, striking the right balance between modernising tax rules and supporting economic dynamism.
“If policymakers take a cautious approach to simplification, then half-hearted reforms will likely leave in place layers of duplicative reporting requirements and anti-avoidance regimes”, warned Sean Bray, Policy Director of Tax Foundation Europe.
The Tax Foundation believes that simplification efforts should rely on the Regulatory Scrutiny Board, as it has the capacity, skillset, and institutional incentives to identify opportunities to improve impact assessments and help policymakers refine their regulatory approach.
Read the ‘roadmap’: https://aeur.eu/f/ki1 (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)