A communication on business taxation, an action plan on tackling tax fraud and potential changes to the DAC rules are among some of the European Commission’s immediate areas of focus on tax.
With 2020 now in full swing, what are the EU institutions planning for tax in the months ahead? The European Commission published its work programme for 2020, and tax momentum is brewing within the European Parliament too.
On 29 January, the new European Commission led by Ursula Von Der Leyen published its very first annual work programme. The work programme presents the Commission’s priorities for 2020, including tax policies.
According to the work programme, in ‘Q2 2020’ (expected around the end of March), the Commission plans to publish a non-legislative communication on ‘business taxation for the 21st century’. This communication will explain in more detail the Commission’s plans for the next couple of years or so, but crucially it will probably also unveil its plans for EU action on digital taxation. There are some key questions here: if the OECD reaches an agreement this year, how will the Commission implement those provisions into EU law? And perhaps more importantly, if there is no OECD agreement, what will the Commission do? Will it continue to drive for an EU-only solution, support EU member states that want to introduce their own national digital taxes, or something in-between?
At the same time, probably also in late-March, the Commission will launch an action plan on the fight against tax fraud, together with new legislative proposals. One of the Commission’s stated objectives for this package will be to make tax ‘simple and easy’. It is currently unclear what additional elements the action plan might contain.
The Commission is also mulling changes to its Directive on Administrative Cooperation (DAC), and more specifically to assess whether there is a need to enable sharing of data from online intermediation platforms, and to include VAT relevant data in DAC’s scope for the online platforms. The Commission launched a public consultation on this recently, and any follow-up action could be expected by June.
Furthermore, the Commission is launching its new Capital Markets Union (CMU) action plan in Q3 2020. This might include further withholding tax streamlining in the EU, which has been a key demand of several stakeholders, including many EU member states.
And finally, the Commission’s work programme indicates that public country by country reporting (CBCR), the financial transaction tax (FTT), the common consolidated corporate tax base (CCCTB) and the VAT definitive regime will continue to be on its list of priorities. It will be interesting to see whether Brexit brings new winds and political momentum to some of these issues.
Meanwhile, on the European Parliament’s side, the new permanent tax committee has been long in the waiting now. The latest news is that the committee’s chair will most probably come from within the socialist group of MEPs. The committee’s members will consist of up to 35 MEPs from the Economic Affairs Committee (ECON). And the question of whether or not AML should also belong in the remit of the tax committee is still open.
The Parliament’s leaders could take a confirmatory decision on setting the committee up as early as in March, and the committee might then start its work in May.
Home >Articles > EU watch: the tax developments ahead
EU watch: the tax developments ahead
A communication on business taxation, an action plan on tackling tax fraud and potential changes to the DAC rules are among some of the European Commission’s immediate areas of focus on tax.
With 2020 now in full swing, what are the EU institutions planning for tax in the months ahead? The European Commission published its work programme for 2020, and tax momentum is brewing within the European Parliament too.
On 29 January, the new European Commission led by Ursula Von Der Leyen published its very first annual work programme. The work programme presents the Commission’s priorities for 2020, including tax policies.
According to the work programme, in ‘Q2 2020’ (expected around the end of March), the Commission plans to publish a non-legislative communication on ‘business taxation for the 21st century’. This communication will explain in more detail the Commission’s plans for the next couple of years or so, but crucially it will probably also unveil its plans for EU action on digital taxation. There are some key questions here: if the OECD reaches an agreement this year, how will the Commission implement those provisions into EU law? And perhaps more importantly, if there is no OECD agreement, what will the Commission do? Will it continue to drive for an EU-only solution, support EU member states that want to introduce their own national digital taxes, or something in-between?
At the same time, probably also in late-March, the Commission will launch an action plan on the fight against tax fraud, together with new legislative proposals. One of the Commission’s stated objectives for this package will be to make tax ‘simple and easy’. It is currently unclear what additional elements the action plan might contain.
The Commission is also mulling changes to its Directive on Administrative Cooperation (DAC), and more specifically to assess whether there is a need to enable sharing of data from online intermediation platforms, and to include VAT relevant data in DAC’s scope for the online platforms. The Commission launched a public consultation on this recently, and any follow-up action could be expected by June.
Furthermore, the Commission is launching its new Capital Markets Union (CMU) action plan in Q3 2020. This might include further withholding tax streamlining in the EU, which has been a key demand of several stakeholders, including many EU member states.
And finally, the Commission’s work programme indicates that public country by country reporting (CBCR), the financial transaction tax (FTT), the common consolidated corporate tax base (CCCTB) and the VAT definitive regime will continue to be on its list of priorities. It will be interesting to see whether Brexit brings new winds and political momentum to some of these issues.
Meanwhile, on the European Parliament’s side, the new permanent tax committee has been long in the waiting now. The latest news is that the committee’s chair will most probably come from within the socialist group of MEPs. The committee’s members will consist of up to 35 MEPs from the Economic Affairs Committee (ECON). And the question of whether or not AML should also belong in the remit of the tax committee is still open.
The Parliament’s leaders could take a confirmatory decision on setting the committee up as early as in March, and the committee might then start its work in May.
