European Economic
and Social Committee
CCCTB / Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base
Key points:
The EESC supports the CCCTB because it:
- reduces or even eliminates tax obstacles to cross-border activities within the EU,
- leads to a significant reduction in tax compliance costs,
- removes distortions in intra-EU competition caused by tax rules,
- makes differences in effective tax rates more transparent.
Concerns exist about:
- curtailed tax sovereignty and lower tax revenues,
- lower flexibility and competitiveness in competing for FDI,
- social and societal consequences.
The EESC notes that:
- the CCCTB should be made revenue-neutral;
- the offsetting of losses against profits in different Member States (or consolidation) is at the heart of the CCCTB rules;
- it would endorse an optional arrangement during the introductory phase. In the long term the CCCTB should be made mandatory, at least above a certain threshold, for business operating across borders;
- further clarification is needed with regard to individual rules;
- considers the introduction of a one-stop shop for determining the tax base to be useful; ; the automatic communication of information should become the norm;
- the European Commission should give further consideration to the proposed system of apportionment;
- plans by two or more Member States to align the corporate tax base, by means of intergovernmental cooperation, must be designed in such a way that they do not create new hurdles for European harmonisation.