EU Parliament approves rules against tax avoidance practices
Parliament calls for crackdown on corporate tax avoidance. The EU Commission proposal for an EU anti-tax avoidance directive was welcomed by Parliament in a resolution voted on Wednesday. MEPs nonetheless advocated stricter limits on deductions for interest payments and tougher rules on foreign income. They also called for more transparency for trust funds and foundations, common rules for “patent box” tax reductions on intellectual property earnings, and an EU blacklist of tax havens and sanctions against uncooperative jurisdictions. The anti-tax avoidance directive reflects the OECD's action plan to limit tax base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) and follows recommendations made by Parliament in November (TAXE 1 report) and December (legal recommendations drafted by EP rapporteurs Dodds and Niedermayer) last year. The resolution was passed by 486 votes to 88, with 103 abstentions. The proposal builds on the principle that tax should be paid where profits are made and includes legally-binding measures to block the methods most commonly used by companies to avoid paying tax. It also proposes common definitions of terms like “permanent establishment”, “tax...