BETA

Activities of David COBURN related to 2018/2121(INI)

Plenary speeches (3)

2016/11/22
Dossiers: 2018/2121(INI)

2016/11/22
Dossiers: 2018/2121(INI)

2016/11/22
Dossiers: 2018/2121(INI)

Amendments (20)

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3

3. Welcomes the fact that during its current term the Commission has put forward 22 legislative proposals aimed at closing some of the loopholes, improving the fight against financial crimes and aggressive tax planning, and enhancing tax collection efficiency and tax fairness; calls for the swift adoption of initiatives that have not yet been finalised and for careful monitoring of the implementation to ensure efficiency and proper enforcement, in order to keep pace with the versatility of tax fraud, tax evasion and aggressive tax planning;deleted

2018/12/20
Committee: TAX3

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11

11. Calls on the Commission and the Council to propose and adopt a comprehensive definition of aggressive tax planning indicators, building on both the hallmarks identified in the fifth review of the Directive on administrative cooperation (DAC6)26 and the Commission’s relevant studies and recommendations27 ; calls on Member States to use those indicators as a basis to repeal all harmful tax practices deriving from existing tax loopholes; _________________ 26 Council Directive (EU) 2018/822 of 25 May 2018 amending Directive 2011/16/EU as regards mandatory automatic exchange of information in the field of taxation in relation to reportable cross-border arrangements, OJ L 139, 5.6.2018, p. 1. 27 https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/site s/taxation/files/resources/documents/taxat ion/gen_info/economic_analysis/tax_pape rs/taxation_paper_61.pdfand https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/site s/taxation/files/tax_policies_survey_2017. pdfdeleted

2018/12/20
Committee: TAX3

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14

14. Reiterates its call on companies, as taxpayers, to fully comply with their tax obligations and refrain from aggressive tax planning leading to BEPS~~, and to consider fair taxation strategy as an important part of their corporate social responsibility~~;

2018/12/20
Committee: TAX3

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16

16. Takes note of the statement made by the French Finance Minister at the TAX3 meeting of 23 October 2018 regarding the need to discuss the concept of minimum taxation; welcomes the readiness by France to include the debate on minimum taxation as one of the priorities of its G7 Presidency in 2019;deleted

2018/12/20
Committee: TAX3

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33

33. Welcomes the re-launch of the CCCTB project in a two-step approach, with the Commission’s adoption of interconnected proposals on CCTB and CCCTB; calls on the Council to swiftly adopt them, taking into consideration Parliament’s opinion that already includes the concept of virtual permanent establishment that would close the remaining loopholes allowing tax avoidance to take place and level the playing field in light of digitalisation;

2018/12/20
Committee: TAX3

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35

35. Welcomes the digital tax package adopted by the Commission on 21 March 2018; ~~calls on the Council to swiftly adopt these proposals, taking into account Parliament’s opinion on them;~~

2018/12/20
Committee: TAX3

72. Calls on the Commission and Eurofisc to rapidly conclude their investigations on the Isle of Man’s VAT collection practices on private yachts and aircraft, as revealed by the Paradise papers; and, if necessary, to open infringement procedures;deleted

2018/12/20
Committee: TAX3

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 77

77. Considers that one of the main issues allowing fraudulent behaviour in relation to VAT to occur is the ‘cash profit’ that a fraudster can make; calls, therefore, on the Commission to analyse the proposal made by experts54 to place cross-border transactional data on a blockchain, and to use secured digital currencies that can only be used for VAT payments (single purpose) instead of using fiat currency; _________________ 54 Ainsworth, R. T., Alwohabi, M., Cheetham, M. and Tirand, C.:’A VATCoin Solution to MTIC Fraud: Past Efforts, Present Technology, and the EU’s 2017 Proposal’, Boston University School of Law, Law and Economics Series Paper, No 18-08, 26 March 2018. See also: Ainsworth, R. T., Alwohabi, M. and Cheetham, M.: ‘VATCoin: Can a Crypto Tax Currency Prevent VAT Fraud?’, Tax Notes International, Vol 84, 14 November 2016.deleted

2018/12/20
Committee: TAX3

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 84

84. Deplores the fact that some Member States have created tax regimes allowing non-nationals to obtain income tax benefits, hereby undermining other Member States’ tax base and fostering harmful policies which discriminate against their own citizens;deleted

2018/12/20
Committee: TAX3

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 104

104. Calls on the Commission to assess past amnesty programmes enacted by Member States, and, in particular, the public revenues recovered and their impact in the medium and long term on tax base volatility;deleted

2018/12/20
Committee: TAX3

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 105

105. Takes the view that the CoC Group should mandatorily screen and clear each tax amnesty programme before its implementation by a Member State; takes the view that a taxpayer or ultimate beneficial owner of a company who has already benefited from one or more tax amnesties should never be entitled to benefit from another one; calls for national authorities managing the data on persons who have benefited from tax amnesties to engage in an effective exchange of the data from law enforcement or other competent authorities investigating crimes other than tax fraud or tax evasion;deleted

2018/12/20
Committee: TAX3

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 138

138. Underlines the positive potential of new distributed ledger technologies, such as blockchain technology; notes at the same time the increasing abuse of new payment and transfer methods based on these technologies to launder criminal proceeds or to commit other financial crimes; acknowledges the need to monitor technological developments to ensure that legislation addresses in an effective manner the abuse of new technologies and anonymity, which facilitates criminal activity;deleted

2018/12/20
Committee: TAX3

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 147

147. Is worried about the accelerating corporate tax race to the bottom worldwide in terms of nominal tax rate76 77 ; _________________ 76 The average corporate income tax rate across the OECD dropped from 32.5 % in 2000 to 23.9 % in 2018. Overall, 22 of the 38 countries surveyed in the latest tax policy reform 2018 report from the OECD now have combined statutory corporate income tax rates equal to or below 25 %, compared with only six in 2000. Source: OECD and Selected Partner Economies, Tax Policy Reforms 2018. 77 already well below this level, with an average corporate income tax rate in 2018 of 21.9 %, down from 32 % in 2000, according to the Commission: Taxation Trends in the European Union - Data fConsiders it necessary that governments compete on taxation, which ensures that governments cannot raise taxes with impunity, as low taxes facilitate economic development and human progress; It is also wor th~~e EU Member States, Iceland and Norward, 2018 Edition (page 36) and Taxation Trends in the European Union - Data for the EU Member States, Iceland and Norward, 2015 Edition (page 147).~~ noting that the EU 28 are

2018/12/20
Committee: TAX3

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 153

153. Welcomes the recent clarifications from the CoC Group on fair taxation criteria, especially regarding the lack of economic substance for jurisdictions having no corporate income tax rate or a rate close to 0 %; calls on the Member States to work towards the gradual improvement of the EU listing criteria to cover all harmful tax practices79 ; _________________ 79 Work on fair taxation criteria 2.1 and 2.2 of Council conclusions 14166/16 of 8 November 2016.deleted

2018/12/20
Committee: TAX3

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 154

154. Calls, in the specific case of Switzerland, for which no precise deadline is envisaged due to a previous agreement between Switzerland and the EU, for the country to be put on Annex I by the end of 2019, provided that, following the proper escalation process, Switzerland does not repeal its non- compliant tax regimes, which allow unequal treatment of foreign and domestic income as well as tax benefits for certain types of companies, by then;deleted

2018/12/20
Committee: TAX3

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 168

168. Recalls that tax good governance is a global challenge which requires, above all, global solutions; recalls its position therefore that a ‘tax good governance’ clause should be included in new relevant EU agreements with third countries in order to ensure that these agreements cannot be misused by companies or intermediaries to avoid or evade taxes or launder illicit proceeds, without hampering the EU’s exclusive competences; takes the view that this clause should include specific rules on State aid under the form of a tax advantage, transparency requirements and anti-money laundering provisionsstresses that the EU should not act unilaterally on matters of global importance;

2018/12/20
Committee: TAX3

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 203

203. Considers that it is vital for the exercise of democratic control over the executive that Parliament be empowered with investigative and inquiry powers that match those of Member States’ national parliaments; believes that in order to exercise this role Parliament must have the power to summon and compel witnesses to appear and to compel the production of documents; believes that in order for these rights to be exercised Member States must agree to implement sanctions against individuals for failure to appear or produce documents in line with national law governing national parliamentary inquiries and investigations; urges the Council and the Commission to engage in the timely conclusion of the negotiations on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament on the detailed provisions governing the exercise of Parliament’s right of inquiry;deleted

2018/12/20
Committee: TAX3

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 204

204. Reiterates its call on the Commission to use the procedure laid down in Article 116 TFEU which makes it possible to change the unanimity requirement in cases where the Commission finds that a difference between the provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action in Member States is distorting the conditions of competition in the internal market;deleted

2018/12/20
Committee: TAX3

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 205

205. Welcomes the Commission’s intention to propose qualified majority voting for specific and pressing tax policy issues where vital legislative files and initiatives aimed at combating tax fraud, tax evasion, aggressive tax planning or financial crimes have been blocked in the Council to the detriment of Member States;deleted

2018/12/20
Committee: TAX3

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 206

206. Stresses that all scenarios should be envisaged and not only shifting from unanimity to qualified majority voting through a passerelle clause; calls on the Commission to issue its proposal before the end of its current mandate, early 2019;deleted

2018/12/20
Committee: TAX3