Corporate tax
High time for mandatory common base for corporate tax in Europe
The European Commission is expected to present a long-awaited proposal for new rules on an EU common consolidated base for corporate tax (CCCTB) tomorrow. The Greens support the introduction of a CCCTB, which is crucial for ensuring greater transparency on corporate tax in the EU and limiting the scope for tax avoidance. The group also views the CCCTB as a key step towards introducing a minimum corporate tax rate. Commenting on the CCCTB, Green MEP Philippe Lamberts said:
"After years of discussion it is certainly welcome that the Commission is finally coming forward with a proposal on a common corporate tax base but, in order for it to be effective at addressing tax dumping, the system must be mandatory. If companies can choose between national systems and an EU CCCTB, the possibilities to engage in fiscal chicanery and tax avoidance could very well increase, compounding the problems.
"Tax dumping and arbitrage, facilitated by the current myriad of corporate tax systems, enables corporations in the EU to avoid more than €100 billion in tax payments, depriving national exchequers of vital revenue. Introducing a mandatory common consolidated tax base is a crucial step to addressing this practice, which effectively amounts to tax evasion. At the same time, it will reduce unjustified tax burdens for companies due to double taxation.
"Clearly, the CCCTB must only be a first step towards the introduction of a minimum EU corporate tax rate. Without a minimum rate, harmful tax competition will still be possible. The Greens want the EU to phase in a minimum harmonised rate that would rise to 25%, with flexibility to take account of the specific situation of some peripheral economies."
