European Court of Auditors: multinationals still adept at tax avoidance
Multinationals in the Netherlands and across Europe continue to avoid paying tax. Tax revenue losses can amount to €100 billion a year. A report by the European Court of Auditors says that Brussels needs to do more to tackle this. Jan Vleggeert, Professor of Tax Law, commented on the report in Dutch newspaper ‘de Volkskrant’.
The European Court of Auditors' report shows that multinationals are becoming increasingly adept at avoiding taxes. Through ‘aggressive tax planning’, they figure out where to pay the least tax. Corporate profit shifting is causing countries in the European Union to miss out on around €100 billion. Five years ago, the European Union already came up with a number of directives to curb tax avoidance, but these have not had the desired effect.
According to Professor Vleggeert, there is still much to be done in terms of uniform interpretation, implementation and monitoring by Member States. 'Of the five countries surveyed, incidentally, my impression is that the Netherlands comes off relatively well. What’s more, the recommendation that the Commission should provide better support to the EU’s Code of Conduct Group dealing with harmful tax regimes stands out.'
More information
Read the full article (in Dutch) in de Volkskrant (€)
Photo: Farah Almazouni on Unsplash