New tax action plan must end discrimination against SMEs

EPP Group welcomes planned re-launch of Corporate Tax Base and public consultation on Country-by-Country Reporting (CbCR)

The EPP Group spokesperson in Parliament's Special Committee on Tax Fairness, Burkhard Balz MEP, welcomed the European Commission's action plan to reform corporate taxation in the EU. "The only way to stop tax avoidance and aggressive tax planning by some companies is joint action by all Member States. The mismatches between 28 national tax systems create loopholes," Balz said today in Brussels.

Balz sees a need for action first of all because of the de-facto discrimination against small and medium-sized entreprises (SMEs). "SMEs do not have the resources to set up complicated tax planning schemes. De facto only big multinational companies can profit from the mismatches between national systems. The new tax action plan must end this discrimination against SMEs," Balz stressed.

The mismatches between 28 national tax systems create loopholes Burkard Balz MEP

Balz welcomed also the step-by-step approach the Commission wants to take on the Common Corporate Tax Base. "The EPP Group wants the common tax base. Some Member States so complicated the previous proposal, that it is wise to go first for a common tax base without consolidation," the EPP Group member explained. A tax base without consolidation would not allow companies to set losses in one country off against profits in another country.

The public consultation on new publication obligations for multinational companies on their taxes and earnings, known as 'country-by-country reporting', is for Balz "necessary to see what the next steps are".

"We do not want more bureaucracy, but to tackle the discrimination against SMEs we must uncover the practices of the big multi-national companies," Balz said.