Activities of Miguel VIEGAS related to 2016/2038(INI)
Plenary speeches (3)
Tax rulings and other measures similar in nature or effect (TAXE 2) (A8-0223/2016 - Jeppe Kofod, Michael Theurer) PT
Tax rulings and other measures similar in nature or effect (TAXE 2) (debate) PT
Tax rulings and other measures similar in nature or effect (TAXE 2) (debate) PT
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on tax rulings and other measures similar in nature or effect PDF (1 MB) DOC (506 KB)
Amendments (31)
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital -A (new)
Recital -A (new)
-A. whereas capitalistic globalisation and the free movement of capital, the latter triggered in EU by the establishment of the single market, created the perfect conditions for the design of base erosion and profit shifting schemes and, at the same time, enshrined a structural bias in policy making to the benefit of capital owners and MNEs; whereas this has been promoting divergences and asymmetries between countries and social classes;
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital -A a (new)
Recital -A a (new)
-Aa. whereas the introduction of the single market in the EU has proved, on one hand, highly beneficial to MNEs, and, on the other, highly prejudicial to the desirable economic and social convergence between Member States;
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital -A b (new)
Recital -A b (new)
-Ab. whereas while governments issued tax rulings favouring MNEs they were at the same time increasing labour taxes, asking for wage reductions and cutting public services (namely social security, health and education);
Amendment 20 #
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 fighting tax evasion and avoidance and act for increased cooperation and transparency in order to re-establish tax justice, not only among Member States, but also globally;
Amendment 24 #
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; whereas tax fraud, tax evasion and aggressive tax planning erode the tax base of Member States and thereby lead to loss of tax revenues and, therefore, negatively impact governments' capacity to provide adequate levels of public services, investments and social security; __________________ 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 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)
Recital E a (new)
Ea. whereas these scandals highlight the failure of the current economic system, but also its usury and greed, and show the urgency of putting in practice fair tax regimes and ending tax havens, but above all the need to revolutionize the economic system;
Amendment 72 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas some specific tax jurisdictions actively contribute to designing aggressive tax policies on behalf of MNEs who thereby avoid taxation; whereas the statutory and/or effective corporate tax rate in some jurisdictions is close or equal to zero per cent; whereas the complexity of different tax systems create a lack of transparency which is globally harmful;
Amendment 100 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L
Recital L
L. whereas some financial institutions have played a role as intermediaries in setting up complex legal structures leading to aggressive tax planning schemes used by MNEs, as evidenced in ‘LuxLeaks’ and the ‘Panama Papers’; whereas legal loopholes and lack of coordination, cooperation and transparency between countries create an environment that facilitates tax evasion; whereas banks could have played a positive role in combating the erosion of national tax bases by, for instance, using the means of exchange of information at their disposal in a more cooperative spirit; whereas this shows the need for a firmly regulated and public financial sector in order to guarantee that it works effectively for tackling BEPS;
Amendment 128 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital T a (new)
Recital T a (new)
Ta. whereas patent boxes and similar preferential tools are just one element fuelling downward pressure on corporate tax rates; whereas the Treaties and EU legislation, such as the Parent-Subsidiary and Interest and Royalties Directives, create a problematic asymmetry by prioritising the free movement of capital and business establishment without the necessary policy instruments to ensure coordination, cooperation and transparency in corporate taxation; whereas this is exemplified by ECJ judgements which have prevented Member States from applying robust defence measures (e.g. CFC rules or exit taxation) against aggressive tax planning on the grounds of the fundamental freedoms of the internal market1a; whereas this type of integration enshrines a structural bias to the benefit of investors and corporations operating across borders; __________________ 1aFor instance, judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber) of 12 September 2006. Cadbury Schweppes plc and Cadbury Schweppes Overseas Ltd v Commissioners of Inland Revenue. and case C-9/02 Hughes de Lasteyrie du Saillant v. Ministère de l'Économie, des Finances et de l'Industrie, OJ C 94, 17.04.2004
Amendment 131 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital T b (new)
Recital T b (new)
Tb. whereas a particularly pressing problem arises through the outright lack of any harmonised approach among Member States on the issue of outbound payments; whereas in this current, uncoordinated framework, the combination of a removal of source taxation under the Interest and Royalties and Parent-Subsidiary Directives with a lack of withholding taxes on dividend, licence and royalty fee and interest outbound payments in some Member States creates loopholes whereby profits can effectively flow from any Member State out of the Union without being subject to tax at least once;
Amendment 134 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital V
Recital V
V. whereas it was only five months after the beginning of the term of its Special Committee that some Room documents and minutes of the Code of Conduct Group were made available to MEPs in camera on EP premises; whereas, while additional documents have been made available, some documents and minutes still remain undisclosed or missing; whereas the Commission stated at an informal meeting that it has made all the documents originating from the Commission and at its disposal available to the Special Committee and any further relevant meeting documents originating from the Commission , should they ever have been in the Commission’s possession, must therefore have been lost;
Amendment 137 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital V a (new)
Recital V a (new)
Va. whereas, in addition to untraceable Commission documents, a large number of CoCG room documents, originating from the CoCG Chair, Member States or other stakeholders and in the Commission's possession, have not been made available to MEPs yet;
Amendment 142 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital X
Recital X
X. whereas the OECD, the UN and other international organisations are interested parties in the fight against corporate tax base erosion; whereas there is a need to ensure global harmonisation of practices and implementation of common standards such as those proposed by the OECD vis-à-vis the BEPS package; whereas such global standards should be negotiated and monitored by an intergovernmental forum at UN level with less selective membership than the OECD or G20 so as to allow all countries, including developing countries, to take part on an equal footing; whereas the meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors held in Washington on 14 and 15 April 2016 concluded in favour of initiating implementation of the BEPS measures, and has called for full financial transparency, especially as regards beneficial ownership;
Amendment 158 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital AE
Recital AE
AE. whereas the work of the Special Committee was hindered to some extent by the fact that out of 7 MNCs invited, only 4 agreed on first invitation to appear before its members (see Annex 2); whereas insufficient exchanges were held with political representatives of Member States with a view to discussing and assessing Member States' tax policies as well as political positions in Council fora dealing with tax matters, both of which having the potential to impede necessary coordination, corporation and transparency in corporate tax matters in the EU;
Amendment 161 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital AE a (new)
Recital AE a (new)
AEa. whereas, due to the continued refusal of the Commission and the Council to consent to the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament on the detailed provisions governing the exercise of the European Parliament's right of inquiry, the European Parliament's special and inquiry committees still enjoy insufficient competencies, such as the right to summon witnesses and enforce document access, when compared to Member State parliaments and the US Congress;
Amendment 172 #
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; welcomes the initiative to create a common Union list of uncooperative jurisdictions in the External Strategy for Effective Taxation; reiterates its position that more and binding action is needed to effectively and systematically combat BEPS; invites the Commission to consider extending the interest limitation rule to licence fee and royalty costs and making these costs' tax deductibility contingent on the level of effective taxation of the corresponding revenue in the country of destination; calls on Member States to particularly agree on strong, comprehensive and enforceable CFC rules and to discard rules which are limited to somehow defined non-genuine arrangements the burden of proof for which is put on tax authorities;
Amendment 181 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Notes with concern the lack of measures that are on the table to fight against tax havens, in this sense draws attention to the fact that increasing transparency will not be enough to deal with this problem;
Amendment 209 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Welcomes the agreement in Council on 8 December 2015 on automatic exchange of information on tax rulings; stresses that the Commission should have full access to the new Union database of tax rulingnew Union database of tax rulings should retroactively contain all valid rulings in line with Parliament's earlier position, and that those rulings should be made public after affected corporations had the chance to request redactions of parts that constitute well- defined and actual commercial secrets; insists on the need for a comprehensive and efficient database of all rulings having potential cross-border effect;
Amendment 218 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Is concerned by media reports that Member States have concluded rulings orally in order to escape their obligations under the automatic information exchange framework; emphasises that any such binding or de facto binding commitment on tax matters by a public authority shall be subject to automatic information exchange and documented in writing;
Amendment 241 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Strongly emphasises that the work of whistleblowers is crucial for revealing scandals of tax evasion and avoidance, and that, therefore, protection for whistleblowers needs to be legally guaranteed and strengthened EU-wide; notes that the European Court of Human Rights and the Council of Europe have undertaken work on this issue; considers that courts and Member States should ensure the protection of legitimate business secrets while in no way hindering, hampering or stifling the capacity of whistleblowers and journalists to document and reveal illegal, wrongful and harmful practices where this is clearly and overwhelmingly in the public interest; regrets that the Commission has no plans for prompt action on the matter and this despite explicit support for the Parliament's calls on this matter by Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in the 17 September TAXE hearing;
Amendment 259 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12a. Asks Member States to implement measures against MNEs that have either holdings or subsidiaries in tax havens, in this sense calls on governments to set a good example by forbidding public companies to have affiliates in tax havens;
Amendment 261 #
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, tax transparency measures, BEPS actions and multilateral Automatic Exchange of Information standards as well as the elements used to define 'low tax or secrecy jurisdictions' in Parliament's report on Commission proposal 2016/0011 (CNS), 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 and on the government of the United States of America to fully implement the results of multilateral processes instead of currently used non-reciprocal standards; urges the Commission and Member States to support a global process for listing problematic jurisdiction at UN level; underlines, however, that developing countries which have not actively taken part in the BEPS process and which constitute no significant global BEPS risks by means of their tax systems should not be blacklisted on the basis of not implementing certain BEPS actions, but should equally commit to tax transparency and multilateral cooperation in tax matters;
Amendment 283 #
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, imposing trade or other tariffs, in conformity with WTO-rules, at a level equal to the damage done by foregone tax revenue and prohibiting access to Union funds; 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 300 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Recommends introducing an EU- wide withholding tax by Member States, in order to ensure that profits generated within the Union are taxed at least once before leaving it; notes that such a proposal should include a refund system to prevent double taxation; underlines that such a general withholding tax system based on the credit method has the advantage of preventing double non-taxation and BEPS without creating instances of double taxation and without relying on a selective blacklisting approach which entails significant diplomatic challenges when thoroughly applied as confirmed by several official interlocutors during committee delegations and hearings;
Amendment 325 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Calls on the Commission to put forward proposals for binding Union legislation on patent boxes that goes beyond the OECD Modified Nexus Approach, so as to prohibit the misuse of patent boxes and to ensure that if and when used they are linked to genuine economic activity; calls on Member States, given the overwhelming economic and collective action rationale against patent boxes and similar preferential regimes, to phase such regimes progressively out and replace them with less distortive measures of R&D promotion;
Amendment 404 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33
Paragraph 33
33. Notes the continuing lack of transparency and effectiveness of the working methods of the Code of Conduct Group, which is preventing any concrete potential improvement in terms of tackling harmful tax practices;
Amendment 446 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35 k (new)
Paragraph 35 k (new)
35k. Stresses that political office holders which bear responsibility for breaches of community law as detailed in the TAXE 1 report or for the obstruction of progress against harmful tax practices as evidenced by the Code of Conduct Group documents should take full responsibility for their conduct including considering resignation from their office where appropriate in order to restore trust of citizens in representatives of the European Union and its Member States;
Amendment 447 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36
Paragraph 36
Amendment 469 #
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; reiterates its conclusions from report 2015/2058(INI) that the UN Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters shall be transformed into a genuine intergovernmental body equipped with additional resources, and centralising efforts aimed at reforming the global tax system, ensuring that developing countries can participate equally in the global reform of existing international tax rules;
Amendment 495 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 44
Paragraph 44
44. Calls for the establishment of a public Union register of beneficial ownership, accessible in an open data format, which would form the basis of a global initiative in this regard; stresses the vital role of institutions such as the OECD and the UN in this connection;
Amendment 512 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 46
Paragraph 46
46. Stresses the need for a comprehensive EU/USinternational approach on the implementation of OECD standards and on beneficial ownership; stresses furthermore that good governance clauses and the full BEPS action plan should be included in the Transatlantic Trade Investment Partnership (TTIP)all relevant economic international agreements in order to ensure a level playing field, create more value for society as a whole and combat tax fraud and avoidance;