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When businesses start operating across borders, they are faced with a new and unfamiliar corporate tax system in each EU Member State. As a result, businesses with cross-border activities have to spend time and resources on understanding and complying with complex local corporate tax rules. This represents a significant administrative burden, in particular for small companies. To lower tax compliance costs, the European Commission tabled on 12 September 2023 a proposal for a Council directive to ...

EU Member States' public finances have been under considerable strain owing to both the COVID-19 pandemic and the twin energy-cost-of-living crisis. To bolster EU economies in the wake of these challenging times, various initiatives were taken forward at EU level to simplify tax compliance for businesses operating across borders, and to ensure that taxpayers were paying their fair share. As the current Commission's mandate approaches its conclusion, this briefing looks at some notable achievements ...

In May 2022, the Commission tabled a proposal ('DEBRA') to address the debt-equity bias in corporate taxation. As debt is treated more favourably from a tax perspective than equity, European companies are significantly more reliant on bank loans when funding new investments. To address this bias, the Commission proposes to introduce an allowance that will grant equity the same tax treatment as debt. The Council must vote unanimously, after consulting the Parliament, to adopt the directive. Parliament ...

This study, which was commissioned by the European Parliament’s Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs at the request of the JURI Committee, provides a comparative analysis of the laws on public benefit status found in the Member States of the EU from the perspective of associations and discusses the state of the art of EU law in this field. The study also deals with the legal regulation of cross-border conversion, merger and division of associations, focusing on some problematic ...

When businesses start operating cross-border, they are faced with a new and unfamiliar corporate tax system in each EU Member State. As a result, businesses with cross-border activities have to spend time and resources on understanding and complying with complex local corporate tax rules. This represents a significant administrative burden for those companies, increases the risk of double taxation and discourages companies from taking full advantage of the single market. On 12 September 2023, the ...

Since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022, more than eight million men, women and children have fled Ukraine, looking for safety in Europe. Amidst the uncertainty regarding the future of the war and the tragic and extremely difficult circumstances, many Ukrainians have sought to build a new life in their 'host countries'. Concerns have been raised by the Ukrainian government, however, as to how the host countries will treat the income gained by Ukrainian refugees outside Ukraine for ...

This study aims at quantifying and comparing tax compliance costs burdening private businesses in the European Union by reviewing the available empirical literature and data with a focus on small and medium-sized enterprises. Data as well as methodological challenges are discussed and used to identify best-practice tax systems in Europe. We highlight differences in compliance costs met by firms of differing sizes, engaging or not in cross-border trade and for different tax types.

While shell companies – company entities that have no or minimal economic activity – can serve useful commercial and business functions, they are sometimes abused by companies or individuals for aggressive tax planning or tax evasion. To ensure sustainable public finances under the exceptional circumstances imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, in December 2021 the European Commission presented a directive on preventing shell companies from misusing their structure for tax purposes ('Unshell'). The proposal ...

With important challenges ahead for EU Member States, the work of tax administrations is key to protecting national budgets (and in turn the EU budget) and enforcing tax legislation. While the power to charge and collect tax lies with the Member States, with the EU having only limited competence, over the years there has been greater cooperation between national tax administrations at EU level.

Taxation in times of high inflation

At a Glance 21-10-2022

A sustained period of high inflation will impact the total sum of a country's tax receipts and the overall composition of its tax revenue. In particular, an overall rise in consumer prices will automatically push up value added tax (VAT) receipts. In response to the current rise in prices, notably for energy, the European Commission has issued guidance to clarify the options available to Member States under EU tax law to support struggling households and businesses.