Photo © Maksym Yemelyanov – Fotolia
(BRUSSELS) – A special tax committee set up by the EU Parliament in the wake of the Luxleaks, Panama Papers and Paradise papers scandals adopted Wednesday a roadmap to fairer, more effective taxation and to tackling financial crimes.
“Recent money laundering cases have shown that we urgently need existing AML rules to be better enforced, dissuasive sanctions and a push for improved cooperation and coordination of relevant authorities within and between Member States as well as an active partnership with the private sector,” said Parliament’s co-rapporteur Ludek Niedermayer MEP: “The Committee calls on the EU to lead the global debate on finding a solution to taxing the digitalized economy and ensuring efficient, transparent and fair tax regimes, while maintaining fair and transparent tax competition.”
The recommendations adopted by the Special Committee on Financial Crimes, Tax Evasion and Tax Avoidance (TAX3) range from overhauling the system for dealing with financial crimes, tax evasion and tax avoidance, notably by thoroughly improving cooperation in all areas between the multitude of authorities involved, to setting up new bodies at the EU and global level.
The findings and recommendations include:
- Commission to immediately work on a proposal for a European financial police force;
- An EU anti-money laundering watchdog should be set up;
- A global tax body should be established within the UN;
- Great concern about member states’ general lack of political will in Council to tackle tax evasion/avoidance and financial crime;
- Seven EU countries (Belgium, Cyprus, Hungary, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta and The Netherlands) display traits of a tax haven and facilitate aggressive tax planning;
- Golden visas and passports are problematic and should be phased out;
- The cum-ex fraud scheme clearly shows that the complexity of tax systems results in legal loopholes and that multilateral, not bilateral, tax treaties are the way forward;
- Countermeasures should be envisaged against the US if it does not ensure FATCA’s reciprocity;
- The Council should properly assess the situation in Switzerland in order to ensure that no harmful tax regimes are introduced;
- ‘Tax good governance’ clauses should be systematically included in new EU agreements with non-EU countries;
- Whistleblowers and investigative journalists must be much better protected and the US reward system for whistleblowers could be replicated in the EU;
- Malta and Slovakia must do everything they can to identify the instigators behind the murders of two investigative journalists.
The report will now be passed on to the plenary for approval during the second session of March (25 – 28) in Strasbourg (TBC).
Further information, European Parliament
EU policies Delivering for citizens: The fight against tax fraud
