22 Amendments of Jonás FERNÁNDEZ related to 2016/2038(INI)
Amendment 122 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital S
Recital S
S. whereas several studies from the Commission have clearly shown that the link between the patent box and R&D is in most cases arbitrary and/or artificial, given that there is no direct relationship between the tax advantages and the underlying R&D activities; whereas this inconsistency may lead to the assumption that these schemes are in most cases set up for tax avoidance reasons; whereas tax incentives for incomes generated by R&D, chiefly patent boxes, often result in large decreases in tax revenue for all governments, including those engaging in such a policy;
Amendment 129 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital T a (new)
Recital T a (new)
Ta. whereas one solution to the problem might be to establish common European definitions on what can and cannot be considered to be promotion of R&D; whereas a certain degree of harmonisation must be brought in as regards the use of favourable tax schemes for patents and innovation, in order to reduce the tax competition between Member States that has been established in this area;
Amendment 169 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Considers that the Directive on Administrative Cooperative, after having undergone two consecutive and ad-hoc modifications on automatic exchange on tax rulings and Country by Country Reporting, should be reviewed in its entirety, particularly but not only in order to reduce and eventually eliminate the current exceptions to the principle of exchange of information;
Amendment 174 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Welcomes the Anti-tax Avoidance Package (ATAP) published by the Commission on 28 January 2016, as well as all legislative proposals and communications already undertaken afterwards; calls on the Council to reach a unanimous position on the ATAP and keep the Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive as one single directive, and at the same time reminds the Council that all these measures, in addition to contributing to the implementation of the BEPS plan at EU level, must be seen as intermediate steps towards a more comprehensive solution in the shape of the adoption of the proposal for a directive on a common consolidated corporate tax base (CCCTB); welcomes the initiative to create a common Union list of uncooperative jurisdictions in the External Strategy for Effective Taxation;
Amendment 189 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Urges the Commission to come forward with a proposal for a common corporate consolidated tax base (CCCTB) which would provide a comprehensive solution to harmful tax practices within the Union; believes that the consolidation of the CCCTB is essential and is becoming increasingly urgent; calls on the Member States to promptly reach an agreement on this and to swiftly implement it, making use, if necessary, of the enhanced cooperation procedure referred to in Article 329 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union;
Amendment 196 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Welcomes the Commission’s adoption on 12 April 2016 of a proposal for a directive amending Directive 2013/34/EU as regards disclosure by companies, their subsidiaries and branches, of information relating to income tax and to increased transparency in company tax; regrets, however, that the proposed scope, criteria and thresholds are not in line with the previous positions adopted by Parliament; in particular, the obligation regarding country-by-country disclosure must cover all[1] jurisdictions in which the multinational operates; the information provided must, in addition to the seven areas referred to in the proposal, include public subsidies, purchases, the value of assets, deferred taxes and the list of subsidiaries; the multinationals subject to the obligation on public country-by-country reporting must be those with a net turnover of more than EUR 40 million[2], in line with the definition of large groups laid down in Directive 2013/34/EU; [1] Under the Commission proposal, this obligation applies only to Member States and jurisdictions included in the future European blacklist. [2] The proposal for a directive sets the threshold at EUR 750 million.
Amendment 253 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11a. Considers that a common Union list of cross-border tax evaders and avoiders should be set up with full access by the Commission;
Amendment 262 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Calls on the Commission to come up as soon as possible with a common Union list of uncooperative jurisdictions (i.e. a ‘blacklist of tax havens’), based on sound and objective criteria, including full implementation of OECD recommendations, BEPS actions and Automatic Exchange of Information standards, and w, information on harmful tax competition brought to bear to attract tax receipts generated in other Member States, tax advantages granted to non-resident companies with no obligation to transact any meaningful business in the territory in question and Automatic Exchange of Information standards, and welcomes the Commission’s intention to reach an agreement on such a list within the next six months. The applicable laws and rules must ensure that this exchange of information is effective, guaranteeing the disclosure of banking information on the actual and ultimate beneficiaries of companies, foundations and trusts. Welcomes the Commission’s intention to reach an agreement on such a list within the next six months; calls on the Member States to endorse that agreement by the end of 2016;
Amendment 270 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Calls on the Commission to come up as soon as possible with a common Union list of uncooperative jurisdictions (i.e. a ‘blacklist of tax havens’), based on sound and objective criteria, including full implementation of OECD recommendations, BEPS actions and Automatic Exchange of Information standards, abnormally low taxation rates, and granting of tax advantages to non- residents, and welcomes the Commission’s intention to reach an agreement on such a list within the next six months; calls on the Member States to endorse that agreement by the end of 2016;
Amendment 277 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Calls for a concrete Union regulatory framework for sanctions against the blacklisted non-cooperative jurisdictions, including, but not limited to, the possibility of reviewing and, in the last resort, suspending free trade agreements and, prohibiting access to Union funds and temporarily suspending double taxation conventions (DTCs) that Member States may have with territories on the list; calls for the sanctions also to apply to companies, banks, and accountancy and law firms, and to tax advisers proven to be involved with those jurisdictions. Companies investing or transacting business in these non-cooperative territories and whose presence is not justified by their corporate purpose must be stripped of the tax advantages they gain under the tax laws of the Member States and DTCs; such companies must also be barred from receiving funding from the EU budget and advisory services from the European institutions; consideration should also be given to the possibility of punishing businesses that maintain branches and carry out activities in countries on the European blacklist that are not justified by their corporate purpose by revoking their operating licenses;
Amendment 285 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Calls for a concrete Union regulatory framework for sanctions against the blacklisted non-cooperative jurisdictions, including, but not limited to, the possibility of reviewing and, in the last resort, suspending free trade agreements and prohibiting access to Union funds, diplomatic sanctions, and suspension of travel privileges; calls for the sanctions also to apply to companies, banks, and accountancy and law firms, and to tax advisers proven to be involved with those jurisdictions;
Amendment 287 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14a. Calls on the Commission to prepare binding legislation banning all EU institutions from opening accounts or operating in the jurisdictions included in the common Union list of uncooperative jurisdictions;
Amendment 296 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15a. Calls for a more active role of the Commission in coordinating with OECD and IMF, following-up the implementation of current legislation, and in the preparation of draft legislation on tax matters, and asks the Commission to consider setting up a European Tax Agency in charge as well of collecting the EU true own resources, current and future;
Amendment 394 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30 a (new)
Paragraph 30 a (new)
30a. Considers that the recently approved Directive for the protection of commercial secrets should not be interpreted in a restrictive fashion by Member States in the sense of misusing it to prosecute whistle-blowers; In particular, considers that the said Directive does not limit the activity to whistle-blowers that reveal illegal activities but also irregular or un-ethical conduct or other activities whose knowledge is in the public interest;
Amendment 400 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33
Paragraph 33
33. Notes the continuing lack of transparency of the working methods of the Code of Conduct Group, which is preventing any concrete potential improvement in terms of tackling harmful tax practices; calls on the Group to publish periodically the results of its monitoring of Member States' level of compliance with its recommendations, and to draw up an annual report, available to the public, identifying and describing the most harmful tax practices employed by Member States that year;
Amendment 451 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 37
Paragraph 37
37. Calls for urgent action against tax fraud, tax evasion, tax havens and aggressive tax planning, both from the demand and the supply sides; regrets that the Council has for a number of years impeded decisive action on these issues, and reminds Member States of the possibility available to them of establishing systems of enhanced cooperation (between at least 9 Member States) in order to speed up action on harmful and illegal tax practices;
Amendment 471 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 40
Paragraph 40
40. Calls on the Union, the G20, the OECD and the UN to cooperate further to promote global guidelines that will also be beneficial to developing countries; developing countries must be involved, on an equal footing, in drawing up and adopting these guidelines, which must cover both topics of interest to developed countries and the particular issues affecting the poorest countries.
Amendment 491 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 44
Paragraph 44
44. Calls for the establishment of a Union register of beneficial ownership, which would form the basis of a global initiative in this regard. This public EU register must contain a minimum amount of information on: (i) the accounts associated with companies, foundations, trusts and other intermediary vehicles and their owners; (ii) the ultimate beneficiaries of the funds and assets; (iii) all intermediaries, trustees and managers of these bodies and legal entities; stresses the vital role of institutions such as the OECD and the UN in this connection;
Amendment 534 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 50 a (new)
Paragraph 50 a (new)
50a. Calls the Council to fully take advantage of the consultation procedure with the Parliament, in particular this means waiting for the input from the Parliament before reaching a political agreement, and striving to take on board the Parliament´s position;
Amendment 535 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 50 b (new)
Paragraph 50 b (new)
50b. Calls on the AFCO Committee to analyse empirically the success rate of the consultation procedure in the field of taxation but not only;
Amendment 536 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 50 c (new)
Paragraph 50 c (new)
50c. Notes that in a future reform of the Treaties co-decision by the Parliament should be extended to fiscal matters;
Amendment 537 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 50 d (new)
Paragraph 50 d (new)
50d. Notes that in a future reform of the Treaties Qualified Majority Voting in the Council should be extended to fiscal matters;