21 Amendments of Jonás FERNÁNDEZ related to 2020/2254(INL)
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 20 a (new)
Citation 20 a (new)
— having regard to the resolution of the European Parliament on the implementation of the EU requirements for exchange of tax information: progress, lessons learnt and obstacles to overcome (2020/2046(INI)),
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the unprecedented impact and magnitude of the COVID-19 crisis on the economy has led to a decrease in tax revenues and an increase in fiscal expenditures to protect society and the economy, and is leading to a sharp increase in government debt; whereas tax fraud and, tax evasion and tax avoidance undermines government revenues, as well as the sustainability of public finances and, taxation systems and tax fairness; whereas it is paramount to keep taxes low to support the sustainable growth of the economy, while not undermining a sufficient income to the budget;
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas a swift recovery requires a strong economic and fiscal policy response ensuring, inter alia: (i) an effective level playing field for businessetax payers, including less red tape to promote both domestic trade and trade within the Single Market, supported by a simple and more predictable tax environment; (ii) securing tax revenues for Member States to finance the recovery and reducboost investments that will support the reduction in the debt to GDP ratio and (iii) fair taxation of businesses and citizens, enhancing both trust in society and fair competition;
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas current international corporate tax rules are no longer suitable in the context of digitalisation and globalisation of the economy; whereas developments of digitalisation create aopportunities and challenges in terms of traceability of economic operations and taxable events;
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the Commission's Action Plan and supports its thorough implementation; observes that the majority of the 25 actions are related to VAT, which is appropriate due to the high level of revenue losses in the area of VAT; considers however that an impact assessment should be carried out, before presenting concrete legislative proposals to better apprehend the potential effects on taxpayers and businesse and the need to support business, especially SMEs;
Amendment 58 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Recalls that any tax measures, temporary or not, should foster and not hamper the competitiveness of European businessesavoid distorting investment decisions and should act as a tool in supporting the fulfilment of Union goals such as the Green Deal, social justice or digitalisation of the European economy; stresses that the reporting requirements should not generate higher administrative costs for economic actors, notably for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs); notes that in order to effectively address lost tax revenues, better quality and possible higher quantities of data may be needed, but only data effectively used, and collected from taxpayers only once with utmost security, should be collected; notes that data should aim to simplify various obligations of taxpayers, while artificial intelligence (AI) and various softwares should be used to maximise the effectiveness of the use of data;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Is of the opinion that better estimates of overall tax losses in the Union are essential for efficient proposals on ways to effectively reduce tax losses; welcomes the creation of the EU tax observatory and recommends the Commission to find means to perpetuate this action that was initiated by a pilot project of the Union annual budget;
Amendment 81 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Notes that the Union decision- making process is not promoting change, as tax policy is a national prerogative and subject to unanimity; recalls the existence of Article 116 TFEU; regrets that the current situation sometimes leads to an uneven or inconsistent application of tax regulations; calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure more harmonised and consistent tax rules and their implementation, to protect the functioning of the single market and to assure the principle of “taxing where profit is generated”;
Amendment 93 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8 a. Insists that the future legislative reforms on tax policy should be carried out under the provisions of the TFEU (such as Article 116) allowing decision- making in the Council to be more efficient, such as qualified majority voting; highlights further that, to the extent that unanimity has already occurred (in the context of the NGEU) on a reduced set of new own resources, it would be appropriate to make use of the “passerelle clauses”, established in Article 48 (7) TEU, to agree by qualified majority on those resources that are currently subject to unanimity, such as new taxes/levies, insofar as that prior unanimity for their entry into force was already agreed by the Council;
Amendment 103 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Observes that the current EU VAT system remains too complex, especially for SMEs, and vulnerable to fraud, while generating high compliance costs for economic operators8 ; notes that the different measures to tackle tax fraud are adopted in the Member States; recalls that the modernisation of the VAT system and the shift towards a more coherent VAT system across the Union should be addressed urgently9 ; _________________ 8As per the EPRS’ EAVA (September 2021), the VAT gap, including cross- border VAT evasion and fraud, could be estimated at around €120 billion in 2020, page 42. 9As per the EPRS' EAVA (September 2021), the estimated added value of the extended cooperation between the Member States plus the full implementation of the OSS could bring a reduction of est. €29 billion of the VAT gap, and a reduction of est. €10 billion in compliance costs for businesses, page 39.
Amendment 112 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10 a. Notes that the Commission, with the new proposals, should take into account the specific needs of SMEs and create a level playing field via requirements based on threshold when relevant;
Amendment 135 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Welcomes the efforts of the Commission to address the problem at least partially by introducing various initiatives, but stresses the high importance of the Union in contributing to the success of global negotiations towards the ongoing necessary reforms; welcomes the announcement made by the Commission to implement both Pillars of the Inclusive framework via directives before the end of 2022; stresses that while the Commission's actions would not undermine the OECD initiatives, the specificities of the Union and its Single market might require an expansion of the level of ambition;
Amendment 140 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Notes that the reduction of the estimated gap10 due to corporate tax avoidance at around EUR 35 billion per year from the previous Commission estimations of EUR 50-70 billion before anti-BEPS measures were introduced and the correlation between an improvement and the legislative efforts on tax avoidance carried out by the Commission; stresses that situations where some firms are still able to reduce their tax bill is undermining fair competition in the single market and often harming the competitiveness of SMEs; recalls that the tax gap due to corporate tax avoidance can amount up to EUR 190 billion when special tax arrangements, inefficiencies in collection and other practices are taken into account; _________________ 10 COM(2020) 312 final, page 5. There are other estimations, for example by the European Parliament, with estimated losses from financial crime, tax evasion and tax avoidance amounting to EUR 190 bn. Based on the OECD's comprehensive work in the Base Erosion Profit Shifting report (BEPS), Action 11, global revenue losses before any of the anti-BEPS measures were decided amounted to some USD 100-240 billion or 0.35 per cent of global GDP. The EU Commission estimated that some EUR 50-70 billion was attributable to the EU before the Anti-Tax Avoidance Directives I and II were agreed on by Member States.
Amendment 143 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Welcomes the two-pillar agreement reached at the G7/G20 levels on the allocation of taxing rights and the application of a minimum effective tax rate of at least 15% on the global profits of MNEs; notes the need for effective implementation in the Union and beyond; calls on the Commission to make the necessary legislative proposals to implement the agreement into Union law as quickly as possible after the finalisation of the technical work on the OECD approach; understands that the Commission’s proposal for a Digital Levy has been put on hold and demands the Commission to communicate quickly on the alternatives it is considering, also in the context of the Union's own resources;
Amendment 150 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14 a. Observes that the new working arrangements such as telework bring both challenges and opportunities for workers and employers; underlines the urgent need to better define the notion of tax residency for individuals in view of the new working arrangements that have developed rapidly due to the COVID-19 crisis; highlights that such new working arrangements can have a real impact on the collection of personal income tax, notably due to the proliferation of low tax regimes for non-residents; urges the Commission to issue proposals on the definition of tax residency by 2023;
Amendment 159 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15 a. Emphasises the need to balance the tax mix in order to gradually minimise the impact of labour tax on workers and to increase the contribution of environmental taxes and fair taxes on capital;
Amendment 173 #
18. ConsiderNotes that the new corporate tax agenda should includes a mechanism to address the debt-equity bias through an incentive system, helping to support the resilience of companies in adverse economic circumstances in the future; recalls that, in the past, allowances for corporate equity have been exploited as tax loopholes in the Union; requests the Commission to incorporate strong anti- avoidance provisions to avoid any allowance on equity to be used as a new tool for base erosion if an allowance for corporate equity should be set up; recalls that the reduction of the deduction of exceeding borrowing costs can also reduce the debt- equity bias;
Amendment 183 #
Motion for a resolution
Annex I – Part B – title
Annex I – Part B – title
B. More certainty for taxpayers and/or Member States' tax administrations
Amendment 187 #
Motion for a resolution
Annex I – Part B – Recommendation B2 – paragraph 1
Annex I – Part B – Recommendation B2 – paragraph 1
The European Parliament calls on the Commission to reflect the experience and identify remaining gaps in the existing Council Directive (EU) 2017/1852 on tax dispute resolution mechanisms in the Union, in order to address the existing conflicts and uncertainties regarding residency for both natural and corporate persons, causing risks of double taxation. The European Parliament also requests that the outcome of disputes should be made publicly available in the form of a summary that would publish, among other essential, but non commercially sensitive, information, the resulting effective tax rate paid by the taxpayer. The regime set out in the Directive must ensure the time limits for obtaining a decision, which will be legally binding and enforced. The analyses should be done in 2022, and a possible change of Directive presented in 2023.
Amendment 202 #
Motion for a resolution
Annex I – Part C – Recommendation C2 a (new)
Annex I – Part C – Recommendation C2 a (new)
Recommendation C2 a A Permanent observatory to monitor and quantify trends in European taxation In 2019 the European Parliament initiated the launch of an EU Tax Observatory as a preparatory action. In order to contribute to evidence-based policy making and to stimulate a European debate on international tax issues, the European Parliament calls on the Commission to work on a solution to perpetuate that initiative.
Amendment 204 #
Motion for a resolution
Annex I – Part C a (new)
Annex I – Part C a (new)