Key Points
The EESC:
- broadly supports the Commission's legislative proposals and praises their coordination with the global discussions carried out at the OECD/Inclusive Framework level in order to achieve a global consensus;
- agrees with the Commission's approach that good tax governance, the basis for fair taxation, requires tax transparency through the exchange of information between tax authorities, fair tax competition, the absence of harmful tax measures, more efficient tax measures and the implementation of internationally agreed rules;
- agrees with the Commission's acknowledgement that tax competition is not an issue in itself. At the same time, there is a concern about the existence of unfair tax competition within the EU which promotes tax avoidance. The Committee believes that an effective monetary union requires a coherent fiscal policy and consistency between the fiscal rules of its members;
- supports the Commission initiative on reviewing the Code of Good Conduct and stresses that the result and achievements of the Code of Conduct should be more regularly updated and publicly available to civil society;
- shares the Commission's view that tax fraud and evasion remain a threat to public finances, especially in times of crisis;
- is of the opinion that the 25 actions planned by the Commission seem reasonable. Most of them are related to VAT, which is appropriate due to the high level of revenue losses in the VAT area;
- considers it very important to have clear and internationally coherent tax and employment rules for digital platforms;
- underlines that joint audits, which are in principle a useful and effective tool, should be performed respecting the rights of taxpayers, including the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union;
- has proposed launching a European pact to effectively combat tax fraud, evasion and avoidance and money laundering.