European Parliament
EP publishes Pandora Papers draft report
European Parliament’s (EP) draft report on Pandora Papers – lessons learned was finally published on 17 October. The report proposes recommendations for addressing issues identified in the leaks, including the role of intermediaries, harmful tax competition, shell entities and trusts, and more. It was drafted by MEP Niels Fuglsang (S&D/Denmark).
FISC Subcommittee held a short debate on the draft report on 27 October. MEPs highlighted the protection of whistleblowers and journalists and the role of intermediaries in promoting ‘aggressive tax planning’.
ECON is scheduled to vote on the draft report on 31 January 2023.
ECON hearing with US congress representative
EP’s ECON Committee met to exchange views with US Congressman Don Beyer, Chairman of the US Joint Economic Committee, on 24 October. On Pillars 1 and 2, the Congressman hinted it would be challenging for the US to sign up for the OECD agreements unless the Democrats obtained a Congress majority in the November mid-terms.
Beyer noted that if Pillar 1 could not be advanced, he would be able to understand why ‘unilateral’ digital levies would be implemented. He argued Americans would have fewer arguments about why this could be unfair. Read more
FISC hearing on the future of corporate taxation
EP’s FISC Subcommittee organised a public hearing titled “The Reform of Corporate Taxation: What’s Next?” on 27 October. The hearing focused on the pending work on Pillars 1 and 2 of the OECD agreement and the design of the future EU tax rulebook, the Business in Europe: Framework for Income Taxation’ (BEFIT).
At the hearing, DG TAXUD’s Director-General Gerassimos Thomas explained that EC still aims for an agreement between all 27 EU member states on the Pillar 2 Directive. However, if one member state disagrees, other member states could possibly request an enhanced cooperation action from EC, Thomas said. He reminded that the Pillar 2 agreement “per se” already allows ‘unilateral’ implementation of the provisions. Read more
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