29 Amendments of Martin SCHIRDEWAN related to 2021/2097(INI)
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
A a. whereas independent research1a suggests EU member states collectively lose more corporate tax revenues to other EU member states than to third countries; _________________ 1aThomas Tørsløv, Ludvig Wier and Gabriel Zucman, The Missing Profits of Nations, Working Paper, April 2020, available from https://missingprofits.world/
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas the G20/OECD Inclusive Framework on BEPS agreed on the key components of a two-pillar reform of the international tax system in order to address the challenges arising from the digitalisation of the economy, including a minimum effective corporate tax rate of 15 %; whereas the result of the final negotiations is weaker than the initial proposal;
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas withholding taxes can reduce the risk of tax evasion and avoidance, thus remaining a reliable policy tool until the implementation of the above-mentioned agreement by the G20/OECD Inclusive Framework on BEPS; whereas Member States are entitle to have countermeasures to protect their tax base;
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas complex non-standardized refund procedures increase the administrative burden for cross-border investments and may create an obstacle to market integration, making the process lengthy and more prone to fraud;
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas the Interest and Royalties Directive (IRD) and the Parent-Subsidiary Directive (PSD) both exempt certainspecific cross- border payments that take place within the EU for associated companies and are related to interest, royalties and dividends from withholding tax with the aim of eliminating double taxation; whereas negotiations on a revision of the IRD have stalled in the Council for several years because 7 Member States voted against the inclusion of an effective minimum taxation rate;
Amendment 38 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)
Recital F a (new)
F a. whereas the IRD states that “It is necessary to ensure that interest and royalty payments are subject to tax once in a Member State”; whereas withholding taxes on interest and licence fee payments intra-EU may be considered compatible with the IRD, since the directive only applies to payments between associated companies with a direct minimum holding of 25% and given the fact that the source country may ask for legal justification of such payments as a condition for the exemption;
Amendment 41 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F b (new)
Recital F b (new)
F b. whereas research2a shows that IRD and PSD have been used by Member States to circulate untaxed royalties, interests and dividends payments in the EU with the aim of reaching a third- country jurisdiction with low or no taxes as a final destination; whereas researc2b shows that the top 10 conduit countries include nine European countries, among which the United Kingdom, Luxembourg and the Netherlands are the most importantones; _________________ 2aVan ’t Riet M. and A. Lejour, 2020, A Common Withholding Tax On Dividend, Interest And Royalties In The European Union 2bVan ’t Riet M. and A. Lejour, 2018, Optimal Tax Routes: a network analysis of FDI diversion, International Tax and Public Finance 25(5), 321-1371.
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F c (new)
Recital F c (new)
F c. whereas the Commission has put forward a proposal for the revision of the IRD and the European Parliament adopted a legislative resolution stating that “the benefits of the Directive should only be applicable when the income derived from the payment is effectively subject to tax in the Member State of the receiving company or in the Member State where the recipient permanent establishment is situated, without there being the possibility of exemption or a substitution or replacement by payment of another tax”;
Amendment 48 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas the cum-ex and cum-cum schemes both involve reclaims of dividend withholding tax to which the beneficiaries were not entitled and are estimated to have imposed a total cost to taxpayers of about EUR 55 billion between 2001 and 2012 in the 11 Member States concerned; whereas new revelations on October 2021 updated those values to EUR 140 billion;
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Notes that despite continuous efforts, the system of withholding taxes in the EU has remained largely fragmented, creating loopholes which could be abused to shift profits and barriers to cross-border investments in the single marketallow for fraud schemes;
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Welcomes the agreement reached by the G20/OECD Inclusive Framework on a two-pillar reform, including a global minimum effective tax rate; considers this an important step towards ending the practice of shifting profits to low-tax jurisdictions; regrets the fact that the scope isfinal agreement has been weakened as a result of the negotiations and the scope has been limited to multinational enterprises with a global consolidated turnover of at least EUR 750 million; in addition, regrets the fact that the minimum tax rate has been set at 15% (while the initial proposal was 21%), as well as the inclusion of carve-out clauses that lead to a lower effective corporate tax rate and the fact that the principle of taxing profits where the business activity happens is not really respected;
Amendment 67 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Is pleased that 136 countries and jurisdictions have supported the G20/OECD Inclusive Framework agreement on a two-pillar reform; regrets the fact that one Member State, Cyprus, is not part of the Inclusive Framework;
Amendment 76 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Regrets the fact that base erosion and profit shifting are still ongoing and are facilitated by the tax regimes of certain Member States; recalls that the Commission, in the context of the European Semester and the assessment of the National Recovery and Resilience Plans, found that more reforms are needed in order to address aggressive tax planning in six Member StateCyprus, Hungary, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta and the Netherlands, where the absence or limited application of withholding taxes on outbound payments are likely to be misused for aggressive tax planning;
Amendment 85 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to set up a harmonised withholding tax framework that ensures that all dividend, interest and royalties payments flowing out the EU are taxed at a minimum effective tax rate; recalls that recent research3a shows large differences in the application of withholding taxes in EU Member-States - the rates can vary between 0 and 35% - and points to the fact that withholding tax rates in tax treaties are often 5 to 10 percentage points lower than the standard rates; deplores, in particular, Cyprus, Hungary, Latvia and Malta for not levying withholding taxes on neither dividend, interest or royalties payments and Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden for not levying it on interest and royalties; _________________ 3aVan’t Riet M. and A. Lejour, 2020, A Common Withholding Tax On Dividend, Interest And Royalties In The European Union
Amendment 89 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6 a. Stresses that non-taxed circulation of dividend, interest and royalties payments insidethe EU is used as a conduit for these flows to leave the EU towards low-tax jurisdictions, as has happened in such cases as the double Irish-Dutch sandwich or the Danish beneficial ownership regime;
Amendment 90 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 b (new)
Paragraph 6 b (new)
6 b. Stresses that IRD and PSD can incentivise companies to create holding structures in under-taxed Member States in order to benefit from withholding taxes exemptions; Stresses that harmful tax practices in EU Member States result in significant revenue losses; Calls on the Commission and the Member States to set up a harmonized withholding tax framework for payments within the EU; stresses that a system of tax credits could be put in place in order to guarantee that no double taxation would occur;
Amendment 95 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Recalls the proposal by 10 Member States to include an effective minimum tax rate for royalties and interest in the context of the IRD; stresses that 7 Member States voted against it and notes that these votes should be publicly known; urges the Council to swiftly resume and conclude the negotiations on the IRD and encourages the inclusion of such a measure in the announced directive for the implementation of Pillar II;
Amendment 100 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. NotStresses that the lack of an effective minimum tax rate on dividend payments to shareholders has triggered a race to the bottom in this field; calls for the adoption of an effective minimum tax rate for dividend payments to shareholders in the EU, thereby reducing harmful tax competition in this realm;
Amendment 104 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8 a. Recalls the OECD principle of taxing the business activity where it happens; Calls for the repeal of both the IRD and the PSD if no concrete changes are made in the current texts in order to guarantee an effective minimum tax rate in all interest, royalties and dividends payments circulating within the EU and to ensure a clear identification of the beneficial owners, possibly aligning this concept with the Anti-Money Laundering and transparency laws;
Amendment 120 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Recalls that in October 2018, an investigation disclosed that 11 Member States had lost up to EUR 55.2 billion in tax revenue as a result of cum-ex and cum- cum schemes; stresses that a new investigation in October 2021 updated those values to EUR 140 billion;
Amendment 127 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. NotStresses that although Directive 2014/107/EU has facilitated the exchange of information, other obstacles to the detection of cum-ex and cum-cum schemes exist, including the timeliness of exchanges, the scope of the exchange of information on capital gains, and the insufficient spontaneous exchange of information;
Amendment 135 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13 a. Welcomes the Commission’s proposal for establishing an Authority for Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism at a European level, solving the problem of what entity has the mandate to investigate and act upon cases of dividend arbitrage; regrets, however, the lack of supervision and transparency when dealing with payments flowing out of the EU, for example, to the US;
Amendment 137 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 b (new)
Paragraph 13 b (new)
13 b. Stresses that the introduction of a comprehensive Financial Transaction Tax would not only raise tax revenues, but also require better data on this kind of transactions and taxpayers;
Amendment 140 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. NotWelcomes the Commission’s intention to put forward a proposal by the end of 2022 establishing a European withholding tax framework for dividend, interest or royalty payments, accompanied by a mechanism for the exchange of information and cooperation among tax administrations;
Amendment 150 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Encourages the development of a harmonised EU procedure for withholding tax refunds for all Member States, thereby addressing the concerns about regulatory discrepancies; Stresses that the main concern should be to tackle the possibilities of fraud;
Amendment 157 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. NotStresses that digitalising these procedures and improving cooperation between national tax administrations couldan reduce the administrative burden and uncertainty in cross-border investments;
Amendment 163 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16 a. Stresses that a fully-fledged common EU relief at source system undermines the nature of withholding taxes, which is to curb abusive tax practices in which income is shifted to low-tax jurisdictions;
Amendment 164 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 b (new)
Paragraph 16 b (new)
16 b. Asks the Commission and the Member States to consider as an alternative establishing a system in which all withholding taxes paid to a foreign tax administration would receive a tax credit by the Member State where the income is declared and taxed; stresses this would solve the problem of costly and lengthy reimbursement procedures;
Amendment 165 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17