12 Amendments of Marju LAURISTIN related to 2016/2038(INI)
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 12 a (new)
Citation 12 a (new)
– having regard to the Directive 2015/849 of 20 May 2015 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing;
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the ‘Panama Papers’ and ‘LuxLeaks’ scandals, as revealed by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), have shown the urgent need for the EU and its Member States to fight tax evasion and avoidance and act for increased cooperation and transparency in order to re-establish tax justice, prevent money laundering and combat organised crime, including terrorism;
Amendment 26 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the scale of tax evasion and avoidance is estimated by the Commission to be EUR 1 trillion19 a year, while the OECD estimates20 the revenue loss at global level to be between 4 % and 10 % of all corporate income tax revenue, representing between EUR 75 and EUR 180 billion annually, at 2014 levels; whereas these are only estimates and the actual figures might be even higher; whereas the costs to society of such practices are evident, seriously undermine good governance and trust in democracy; whereas tax fraud, tax evasion and aggressive tax planning erode the tax base of Member States and thereby lead to loss of tax revenues; __________________ 19 http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/taxati on/tax_fraud_evasion/a_huge_problem/ind ex_en.htm, European Commission, 10 May 2016. 20 Measuring and Monitoring BEPS, Action 11 - 2015 Final Report, OECD/G20 Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Project.
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the primary job creators in Europe, having created around 85 % of all new jobs in Europe21 during the last five years; whereas the Commission has stated that SMEs pay on average 30 % more in tax than multinational enterprises (MNEs); whereas this seriously distorts competition, leads to loss of jobs in the Union, fosters inequality and hinders sustainable growth; __________________ 21 http://ec.europa.eu/growth/smes/, European Commission, 10 May 2016.
Amendment 54 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas convergence of tax policies should also be accompanied by greater controls and more investigations of harmful tax practices; whereas the Commission has started new formal investigations regarding tax treatment of MNEs; whereas a number of investigations by the Commission in matters of state aid in connection with Member States tax practices were still ongoing at the time of adoption of this report; whereas certain Member States have initiated recovery procedures against some MNEs;
Amendment 86 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
Recital I
I. whereas the hearings organised with Andorra, Guernsey, Jersey, Liechtenstein and Monaco (see Annex 1) showed that the conditions for registration of offshore companies and the information to be provided in this regard vary from one jurisdiction to another; whereas full information on the final beneficiaries of trusts, foundations and companies by official tax authorities of some of these jurisdictions is not known to exist or is never made public; whereas Directive 2015/849 of 20 May 2015 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing still leaves a wide margin of discretion to Member States on the level of transparency and accessibility of beneficial owners of corporate entities; whereas Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco, San Marino and Switzerland have signed agreements with the EU; whereas the Channel Islands have signed agreements with the UK and have declared their readiness to enter into similar agreements with other Member States; whereas the Cayman Islands have only appeared at a coordinators’' meeting and not at a formal hearing of the Special Committee; whereas the Isle of Man declined to appear before the Special Committee but sent a written contribution instead;
Amendment 151 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital Z a (new)
Recital Z a (new)
Za. whereas global tax reforms and international tax cooperation within an intergovernmental UN body are key to strengthening the domestic collection of corporate income tax, especially from MNEs;
Amendment 386 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28
Paragraph 28
28. Reiterates the crucial role of whistleblowers in revealing misconduct and illegal and wrongful practices; considers that such revelations, which shine a light on the magnitude of tax evasion and avoidance, corruption, money laundering and other financial crimes, are clearly in the public interest, as demonstrated in the recent ‘'Panama papers’' leak;
Amendment 387 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29
Paragraph 29
29. Observes that the Commission is limiting its action to monitoring developments in different areas of Union competences, without planning to take any concrete steps to tackle the issue; notes that this lack of ambition could endanger the publication of new revelations, thereby potentially leading to European tax authorities losing legitimate tax revenue, besides the damage inflicted in public trust in the Union and in Member States’ actual governance capacity; regrets that the Commission has not provided a satisfactory response to the demands contained in paragraphs 144 and 145 of Parliament’'s resolution of 25 November 2015;
Amendment 448 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36
Paragraph 36
36. Calls on the Commission to include in the framework of the European Semester reporting of what measures the Member States take towards effective and fair taxation and to enhance efforts against harmful cross- border tax practices and tax evasion, including tax amnesties, tax exemptions or tax benefits granted to MNEs and any companies established in their own "free trade zones", "dependent territories " and preferred jurisdictions for offshore incorporation, including recommendations for strengthening national tax administrations;
Amendment 464 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 39
Paragraph 39
39. Welcomes the renewed focus at G8 and G20 level on tax issues, which should lead to new recommendations; calls on the Commission to maintain a coherent position on behalf of the Union at the upcoming G20 meetings and ad hoc symposia; requests the Commission to inform Parliament about all findings and possible consequences of G20 decisions on combating corporate tax base erosion and, aggressive tax planning practices and any illicit financial flows;
Amendment 520 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 47 a (new)
Paragraph 47 a (new)
47a. Stresses the potential of digital solutions for effective tax collection in gathering tax data directly from operations in the sharing economy and in lowering the overall workload of tax authorities in Member States;