Traduction de «Direction des politiques de planification fiscale » (Français → Anglais) :

Fiscal Planning Policy Branch

Municipal Planning Policy Branch

Armaments Planning, Programmes and Policy Directorate | APPP [Abbr.]

Directorate 2 - Budget and Social Affairs | Directorate 2 - Budget, Tax and Regional Policy

The Anti Tax Avoidance Directive sets out five key anti-avoidance measures, which all Member States should apply, to counter-act some of the most common types of aggressive tax planning (as identified in the discussions at the OECD, in Council discussions on tax avoidance and in the Study on Aggressive Tax Planning that we also published on 28 January).

19. Notes with great concern that corporate tax avoidance has a direct impact on national budgets and on the breakdown of the tax effort between categories of taxpayers as well as between economic factors (to the benefit of the most mobile factors such as capital in the form of FDI); deplores the fact that, in addition to competition distortions and an uneven playing field, this results in an extremely worrying situation where, in a context of intense fiscal consolidation and structural reform efforts, some of those taxpayers with th ...[+++]e highest ability to pay contribute significantly less than those most affected by the economic, financial and debt crisis, such as ordinary citizens and firms not using aggressive tax planning, which often belong to the SME category and are often unable to compete with MNCs because of this comparative tax disadvantage; stresses that this situation risks feeding democratic mistrust and affecting overall tax compliance, particularly in those countries subject to adjustment programmes; deplores the fact that whistleblowers, who provide national authorities, in the public interest, with crucial information about misconduct, wrongdoing, fraud or illegal activities or practices, can be subject to legal prosecution, as well as to personal and economic repercussions; notes with great concern that even journalists uncovering illegal or illegitimate practices have at times faced similar consequences;

33. Stresses the crucial role of large accounting firms, including the ‘Big Four’, in the design and marketing of rulings and tax avoidance schemes that exploit mismatches between national legislations; stresses that those firms, which seem to derive a considerable amount of their revenue from tax services, to dominate most Member States’ auditing markets and to prevail in global tax advising services, constitute a narrow oligopoly; considers that such a situation cannot continue without damaging the functioning of the single market in the fields of activity of the ‘Big Four’; draws attention to the conflict of interest resulting from ...[+++] the juxtaposition, within the same firms, of tax advice and consulting activities intended, on the one hand, for tax administrations and, on the other, for MNCs’ tax planning services, which exploit the weaknesses of national tax laws; takes the view that good practices in this respect must be promoted and that existing codes of conduct should be improved; questions, nevertheless, the effectiveness of corporate codes of conduct and corporate social responsibility policies in tackling this issue; underlines the fact that tax rulings have become, in the EU and worldwide, a common business practice, not only in order to obtain legal certainty or advantageous tax deals, but also in cases where legislative provisions do not allow any room for interpretation; is concerned by estimations from the tax advice industry that a mere 50 % chance of being lawful is sufficient for a tax planning scheme to be recommended to clients ;

6. Underlines the fact that the fight against tax fraud, tax evasion, tax avoidance, aggressive tax planning and tax havens, and an improved framework for the correct functioning of the Single Market via effective tax policy legislation, can be achieved better with a common approach; emphasises that a common approach of this kind should at best be taken at global and not just at European level;