Reducing tax fraud and tax evasion, by Petru Dandea

The EESC endorses the Commission's plan and supports its efforts to find practical solutions as regards reducing tax fraud and tax evasion. However, the Committee is sceptical regarding the implementation of some of the proposed measures, given the numerous policy divergences between the Member States, which slows down the decision-making process at Council level. Furthermore, the cuts to tax authorities' financial and human resources in most Member States through austerity measures implemented in recent years greatly jeopardises implementation of the new measures. In order to put the Commission's plan into action, the Member States must channel sufficient human, financial and logistical resources towards national tax administrations.

A significant proportion of the losses to the tax collection system generated by the shadow economy arise from aggressive tax planning. The Commission recognises that this practice makes use of mismatches between two or more tax systems, which, while considered a legitimate practice at global level, runs contrary to the principles of corporate social responsibility. Given that it erodes the tax base and thus obliges Member States to increase taxes, the Committee believes that aggressive tax planning is an inherently immoral practice that significantly affects the functioning of the internal market and distorts the fairness of tax systems vis-à-vis taxpayers.

The Commission proposes that Member States adopt a set of criteria to identify third countries not meeting standards of good governance in tax matters, and suggests that such jurisdictions could be blacklisted. The Committee points out that this measure should be complemented by sanctions for companies that continue to conduct operations involving entities belonging to those territories.