EU-Action Plan on Company Taxation: a Path to Greater Fairness and Efficiency in Taxation Policy?

The EU Commission has presented a plan on a far-reaching overhaul of company taxation aimed at combatting abusive tax planning and securing long-term tax revenues. The measures aim to create a fairer, more efficient and growth-oriented taxation framework for companies in Europe. For Wolfgang Schön, Max-Planck-Institut für Steuerrecht und Öffentliche Finanzen, Munich, and University of Munich, the action plan features few items that have not already been discussed or announced. The entire text, however, makes it clear how far the Commission has drifted from its original European tax legislation goals. Dennis Klein, Leibniz-Fachhochschule Hannover, warns of excessively high expectations of the action plan. It is little more than a case of the European Commission doing something for the sake of it. For Markus Kerber, Bundesverband der Deutschen Industrie, it is understandable that the Commission would like to take a tougher stance on tax evasion. This, however, should not remain a superficial discussion: the initial central aim of the EU project was to provide taxation policy support for the European internal market. In his opinion, the focus cannot be shifted to tax evasion in a project that is already so broad-ranging. The focus should be on harmonisation to increase the attractiveness of Europe as a business location. For Martin Ruf and Tanja Kroh, University of Tübingen, the EU action plan features selective approaches to solving the familiar problem of “tax planning to exploit international tax rate differences”. According to Katharina Finke, University of Mannheim and Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung (ZEW), Mannheim, and Christoph Spengel, University Mannheim, the action plan provides fresh impetus for the further development of company taxation in Europe. The EU Commission should focus its attention on working on a Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB). Andreas Oestreicher, University of Göttingen, highlights that the concept of the CCCTB offers protection against profit transfers within the EU. For member states, this would reduce the scope for damaging tax-based competition within the internal market.