On 26 November, the European Commission held its yearly meeting with the European Tax Administrations (TADEUS). The discussion focused on the way to address the challenges due to the COVID-19 crisis. Gerassimos Thomas (General Director of DG TAXUD) highlighted the need for strengthening tax compliance and for ensuring digital transformation. The participants have also discussed on how to improve the coordination of the development of intra-European IT systems and about the financial support offered by the Commission through the Recovery and Resilience Facility and the Technical Support Instrument.
The FISC subcommittee of the European Parliament stands ready to push for the reform of the European list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions. On 20 November, the Chair of FISC, Paul Tang (S&D, the Netherlands) presented a draft motion for a European Parliament resolution to the ECON Committee. The motion recognizes the positive impact that the list have already made, though remarking the need for an “increased transparency, stricter listing criteria and stronger defensive measures against tax avoidance and evasion”. The text highlights that the lack of transparency in the listing process risks undermining public trust in the list and that such listing process should also involve EU Member States. A debate on the text is scheduled on 7 December in the FISC subcommittee, while the vote in the ECON Committee is expected on 10 December.
On 20 November, the Member States of the European Union have reached a political agreement on the proposal to amend the Directive on Administrative Cooperation in the field of taxation (DAC7). The proposal provides for an obligation for digital platforms to submit to the respective tax authority all the revenues generated by services providers or sellers that use the platform. The proposal should apply to all platforms conducting business in the EU, even if they are not incorporated or do not have a permanent establishment in a Member State. The EU Council is proposing to apply the application of the new provisions from 1 January 2023. On 23 November, the European Commission launched its impact assessment on a new revision of the Directive (DAC8) that seeks to extend the automatic exchange of information to crypto-assets. The objective is to obtain information that is necessary to make sure that taxpayers who earn money via crypto-assets pay their fair share, as well as to provide for better cooperation across tax administrations and keep business compliance costs to a minimum by providing a common EU reporting standard.
Gabriel Zucman, French economist and Professor at the University of Berkeley has been selected with a team from the Paris School of Economics to set up the EU Tax Observatory. The observatory will be mainly responsible for making recommendations in the field of tax fraud, tax evasion and aggressive tax planning, as well as establishing a public register of data and analysis on tax fraud and tax evasion. It will also work with international organisations and national administrations on the development of EU tax policy and the fight against money laundering.
