Activities of Gunnar BECK related to 2020/2254(INL)
Plenary speeches (1)
Fair and simple taxation supporting the recovery strategy (continuation of debate)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT with recommendations to the Commission on fair and simple taxation supporting the recovery strategy (EP follow-up to the July Commission’s Action Plan and its 25 initiatives in the area of VAT, business and individual taxation)
Amendments (23)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 6
Citation 6
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the unprecedented impact and magnitude of the national and regional lockdowns and other measures that have restricted economic activity, following 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 undermines government revenues, as well as the sustainability of public finances and taxation systems; whereas it is paramount to keep taxes low to support the growth of the economy;
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
A a. whereas in 2020, tax revenue in the Union fell by EUR 215 billion compared to 2019, while at the same time the tax-to-GDP ration has increased from 41.1 to 41.3%1a; _________________ 1a https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/en/web/prod ucts-eurostat-news/-/ddn-20211029-2
Amendment 17 #
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 businesses, including less red tape to promote both domestic trade and trade within the Single Marketless red tape, supported by a simple and more predictable tax environment; (ii) securing tax revenues for Member States to finance the recovery and reduce debt to GDP and (iii) fair taxation of businesses and citizens, enhancing both trust in society and fair competitiondomestic investment, domestic production and domestic demand;
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas current international corporate tax rules are no longer suitableneed to be updated in the context of digitalisation and globalisation of the economy; whereas developments of digitalisation create afiscal challenge in terms of traceability of economic operations and taxable events;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas corporate taxation should be guided by the principle of taxing profits where they are generated, a coordinated approach to the corporate taxation system across the Union could further enable the tackling of unfair competition caused by harmful tax practices that distort the functioning of the single market and often lead to misallocation of resources;
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas increased transparency in the area of corporate taxation can improve tax collection and is also necessary to strengthen fair competitiveness in the single markettaxation of corporates, non- financial entities (NFEs) and high-net worth individuals (HNWIs) can improve tax collection, which will make the work of tax authorities more efficient; whereas the use of technology and digitalisation focused on a more efficient use of the available data can support efficiency and transparency of tax authorities and reduce the costs of compliance and increase the trust of the public;
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. WelcomesTakes note of 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 howeverit absolutely crucial that an impact assessment should be carried out, before presenting concrete legislative proposals to better apprehend the potential effects on taxpayers and businesses;
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Believes that the Commission’s decision to carry out initiatives aimed at enhancing cooperation among tax authorities and increased harmonisation of procedural rules across the single market is of the highest importance; welcomes the Commission’s initiative for the ‘EU cooperative compliance programme’is of the highest importance;
Amendment 50 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. WelcomesTakes note of the Commission's proposal to modernise, and simplify and harmonise VAT requirements, using transaction-based 'real time' reporting and e-invoicing; notes that such reporting needs to be taxpayer- friendly while allowing tax administrations to have an overview of the various transactions in real-time, facilitating the prevention and detection of fraud and risky economic operators; considers that reporting requirements and tax forms should converge across the Member States; believes that the use of the data-mining tool Transaction Network Analysis (TNA) represents an available way to reduce tax fraud and promotes its further development and sharing of best practices among Member States;
Amendment 77 #
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; 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”Recalls that tax policy is a national prerogative and subject to unanimity;
Amendment 90 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Takes note of the existing limits on decision making in the CUnderlines that the European Parliament takes the rule of law very seriously; therefore denounciles and calls for exploring all legal options as provided y attempt to circumvent its own Treaty rules by advocating avoiding the Treaties on taxation especially in order to ensure functionality of the single market and preserve Union competitiveness in the global markeunanimity principle in tax matters; believes that Institutions that preach the importance of the rule of law should live by it;
Amendment 94 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8 a. Regrets that very little progress is registered on reducing VAT arrears, on increasing transparency, and on addressing organised crime more strongly; welcomes that digitalisation continues to be adopted in public administration, albeit at a moderate pace, with spending growing from 0.020% of GDP in 2019, to 0.022 % in 20258a; _________________ 8aEPRS, PE 694.223, September 2021, 30.
Amendment 110 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10 a. Stresses that the amount of VAT arrears registered for each Member State is an important driver of administrative ineffectiveness; underlines that VAT arrears would need to decrease substantially, by close to 17 percentage points, from currently 37% on average to around 20%, in order to decrease the VAT gap by one percentage point10a; _________________ 10a EPRS, PE 694.223, September 2021, p. 29
Amendment 116 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 b (new)
Paragraph 10 b (new)
10 b. Recalls that in order to decrease the VAT gap by one percentage point, transparency would need to increase by 15 units, which for the Union on average means a move from 64 to 79 units, a substantial move towards the best performers2a; _________________ 2aEPRS, PE 649.223, September 2021, 29.
Amendment 126 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Highlights that the current global tax environment is outdated, and canneeds to be modernised, and that some tax issues could only be fully addressed on a global level; considers that a multilateral agreement negotiated OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework on BEPS is a unique opportunity to make international tax architecture more consistent with the development of the economy by further addressing the distortions of fair competition in the market, which was accentuated during the COVID-19 crisis and highlighted problems related to the taxing of large multinational enterprises (MNEs);
Amendment 136 #
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 sStresses the high importance of the Union in contributing to the success of global negotiations towards the ongoing necessary reforms;
Amendment 145 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. WelcomesTakes note of 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; 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;
Amendment 157 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15 a. Underlines that according to the Commission’s Annual Report on Taxation 2021, tax arrears are very unevenly distributed across the Member States15a; is concerned about the fact that total year-end tax debt in Greece is well over 200% and is approaching 200% in Italy, a significant increase compared to the previous year, clearly showing severe tax compliance problems and inefficient tax payment systems in these specific countries; is shocked that the Commission did not collect information nor analyse tax arrears in individual Member States15b and urges the Commission to commence this process as of this year; _________________ 15ahttps://op.europa.eu/en/publication- detail/-/publication/db46de2a-b785-11eb- 8aca-01aa75ed71a1/language-en, graph 23, page 50. 15bAnswer given by Mr Gentiloni on behalf of the European Commission to question E-003183/2021, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/doc ument/E-9-2021-003183-ASW_EN.html
Amendment 160 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 b (new)
Paragraph 15 b (new)
15 b. Looks forward to the implementation of the national reform plans of Greece15c and Italy15d, which include wide ranging reforms and investments that are expected to improve tax collection, such as the digital transformation of companies and administrative systems in Italy and Greece’s Independent Authority for Public Revenue; calls on the Commission to await the national reform plans of those few Member States who have serious issues with tax avoidance, tax evasion and inefficient tax collection before presenting legislative proposals at Union level; _________________ 15cRegulation (EU) 2021/241 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 February 2021 establishing the Recovery and Resilience Facility, 328 final. 15d COM(2021), 344 final.
Amendment 161 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
Amendment 169 #
17. Considers, however, that the BEFIT initiative should be supported by the political process, including with full respect for the unanimity principle, in building political support for change and that the initiative should be accompanied by a thorough impact assessment to shape future proposals, which should contribute to reaching a consensus between Member States;
Amendment 177 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Considers that the new corporate tax agenda should include a mechanism to address the debt-equity bias through an incentive system, helping to supportimprove the resilience of companies in adverse economic circumstances in the future;