Activities of Pedro MARQUES related to 2020/2258(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Reforming the EU policy on harmful tax practices (including the reform of the Code of Conduct Group) (debate)
Amendments (30)
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the nature of HTP has evolved over the last decades; whereas anti-tax avoidance policies have led to a decline in preferential regimes all around the world, particularly in the Union; whereas new forms of HTP have emerged, notably through the transformation of preferential regimes into aggressive general regimes;
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
C a. whereas the work conducted by the Union against HTP includes the adoption of legislation, soft law, and intergovernmental cooperation;
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas the CoC Group was efficient in deterring preferential tax regimes; whereas it has nonetheless failed to prevent aggressive tax competition between Member States; whereas the CoC Group has further failed to eradicate unfairly advantageous tax arrangements offered by some Member States to large companies and the consequential unfair competitive advantage created, such as harmful advance pricing arrangement (‘tax rulings’); whereas the CoC Group remains of purely intergovernmental nature;
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas the CoC Group was efficient in deterring specific categories of preferential tax regimes; whereas it has nonetheless failed to prevent aggressive tax competition between Member States; whereas its latest peer review assessments mostly dealt with Intellectual Property (IP) regimes; whereas the CoC Group remains of purely intergovernmental nature;
Amendment 54 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Stresses that tax evasion and tax avoidance result in an unacceptable loss of substantial revenue for Member States, currently needed to address the devastating consequences of the pandemic; recalls the conservative estimates by the OECD on BEPS which costs around 4-10 % of global corporate income tax revenues, or USD 100-240 (EUR 84-202) billion annually26 ; recalls that Parliament’s estimates of corporate tax avoidance range from EUR 160 to 190 billion when both BEPS and other tax regimes are considered27 ; deplores that no other study quantifying the scale of tax evasion and avoidance has been made available since 2016 and calls on the Commission to undertake such assessment as it does for the VAT Gap annually; _________________ 26 https://www.oecd.org/tax/beps/ 27 Drover, R., Ferrett, B., Gravino, D., Jones, E. and Merler, S., Bringing transparency, coordination and convergence to corporate tax policies in the European Union, European Parliament, Directorate-General for Parliamentary Research, European Added Value Unit, 24 November 2015. Available at: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/et udes/STUD/2015/558773/EPRS_STU(201 5)558773_EN.pdf
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Notes that several tax scandals have boosted the EU policy agenda on HTP, and notably the Luxleaks, the Panama Papers, the Paradise Papers and more recently, the OpenLux revelations;
Amendment 74 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Welcomes the internal and external dimension of the work conducted by the CoC Group on HTP; notes that the external dimension of HTP is mainly dealt with by the CoC Group with the application of the ‘Fair Taxation’ criterion; deplores the lack of coherence between the criteria on HTP applied to Member States and the tougher criteria, in particular on economic substance, applied to third-country jurisdictions in the listing process; recalls that the initial listing process was proposed by the Commission in both its communication on an external strategy for effective taxation and its communication on further measures to enhance transparency and the fight against tax evasion;
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Welcomes the internal and external dimension of the work conducted by the CoC Group on HTP; notes that the external dimension of HTP is mainly dealt with by the CoC Group with the application of the ‘Fair Taxation’ criterion; considers that the EU list needs to be reformed at EU level; recommends that its process be formalised, notably via a legally binding instrument; deplores the lack of coherence between the criteria on HTP applied to Member States and the tougher criteria, in particular on economic substance, applied to third-country jurisdictions in the listing process;
Amendment 98 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Welcomes the fact that the proposal put forward by the US Administration for ‘The Made in America Tax Plan’ could facilitate a deal on Pillar II by mid-2021 and gathering more than 130 countries; highlights the US tax plan includes a minimum effective tax rate of 21% for Global intangible low-taxed income(GILTI) and a minimum effective tax rate of 15% for booked income, including US domestic income;
Amendment 100 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Welcomes the fact that the proposal put forward by the US Administration for ‘The Made in America Tax Plan’ could facilitate a deal on Pillar II by mid-2021; encourages Member States to reach a common European approach towards the implementation of the final agreement at the OECD level; regrets the negative reaction of some key European decision- makers;
Amendment 102 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6 a. Welcomes the Commission’s Communication on Business Taxation for the 21st century; notes the importance of developing a single corporate taxation framework for the EU that does not enable base erosion and profit shifting; highlights that reducing the friction of cross-border economic activity and ensuring a level playing field improves the conditions for businesses, in particular SMEs, to thrive in the single market; notes that failing to fix the dramatic loopholes in corporate taxation can lead to a scenario where national defensive measures proliferate, thus negatively impacting economic activity within the internal market;
Amendment 104 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 b (new)
Paragraph 6 b (new)
6 b. Points out that all Member States and the European Union must review their standards according to the OECD agreement and the Commission’s previously mentioned communication; Stresses that, even if both initiatives are not fruitful, said standards should be updated, notably to include a minimum effective level of corporate taxation;
Amendment 105 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 c (new)
Paragraph 6 c (new)
6 c. Highlights that taxes on capital gains and wealth will keep being subject to a downwards pressure as long as concerns of base erosion remain; encourages Member States to engage in further cooperation in the field of taxation in order to tackle these and other challenges;
Amendment 109 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Calls for the current scope of the CoC to be progressively updated in order to look beyond the preferential nature of tax regime and instead into the general characteristics of a tax system to determine whether they have harmful effects; notes that this is already partially done by the CoC Group and in the framework of the EU listing process, notably for Notional Interest Deduction regimes and the Foreign Resource Income Exemption Regimes;
Amendment 119 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Calls for the adoption of a definition of ‘minimum level of economic substance’, preferably based on a formulaic approach, and which would evolve progressively as reported income increases, which could be used to assess whether a tax regime is potentially harmful; highlights the economic substance requirement already included in the EU list’s ‘Fair Taxation’ criterion; recalls the current minimum requirement on economic substance as existing in the EU list allows notorious tax havens to be delisted after de minimis reforms;
Amendment 122 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Calls on the Commission to produce guidelines on how to design tax incentives with fewer risks of distorting the Single Market, notably by looking at the type(profit based or costs based), the temporal nature (temporary or permanent),the geographical limitation (economic zones) and the intensity (full or partial exemptions) of such incentives;
Amendment 126 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9 a. Recalls that the procedure laid down in Article 116 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), under which Parliament and the Council act in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure, should be applied when harmful tax practices lead to market distortion within the Union;
Amendment 128 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Notes that the Commission recognises that a future minimum global taxation standard would have to be integrated into the EU actions on fair tax competition, and that if no consensus is found at global level on such a standard, it should nonetheless be included in the CoC29 ; calls on the Commission to already assess the legislative proposals that will be necessary to implement Pillar II at Union level, including a revision of ATAD and of the Interest and Royalties Directive, and the reform of the CoC and of the criteria in the EU listing of non-cooperative jurisdictions; considers that the definition of a minimum effective level of tax would not prevent Member States to propose legitimate tax incentives at a lower rate, as long as the income qualifying for such regimes relies on minimum economic substance requirements; understands that, overall, the national average effective rate of a large undertaking should not fall below the minimum rate, following the logic of the current Pillar II proposal; _________________ 29 COM(2020)0313.
Amendment 157 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Calls on the Commission to evaluate the effectiveness of patent boxes and other intellectual property (IP) regimes under the new nexus approach defined by Action 5 of the BEPS Action Plan on HTP; notes that the US administration is proposing to repeal its Foreign-Derived Intangible Income (FDII);
Amendment 158 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12 a. Highlights the growing increasingly important role played by the European Semester in monitoring and making recommendations on tax policies in the EU; believes the European Semester should be used as a tool to curb aggressive tax planning within the EU by making recommendations on adopting robust rules to prevent tax avoidance, repealing rules that can be misused and lead to aggressive tax planning, and by exposing national tax practices that can be deemed as harmful;
Amendment 165 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Welcomes the fact that the CoC has assessed 480 regimes since its creation, deeming around 13030 harmful31 ; recognises the positive effect of the Union’s work on HTP, which has led to a quasi-disappearance of preferential tax regimes within the Union; anticipates a possible similar impact at global stage via the EU listing process; considers therefore the current criteria defining HTP in the CoC as partially outdated given its focus on preferential regimes; _________________ 30Exchange of views of the Subcommittee on Tax Matters (FISC) with Lyudmila Petkova, Chair of the Code of Conduct Group, held on 19 April 2021. 31 https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/docu ment/ST-9639-2018-REV-4/en/pdf
Amendment 170 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Highlights the non-binding nature of the CoC; deplores the fact that Member States could maintain a harmful regime without facing any repercussions; leading to unsatisfactory results ; deplores the fact that some Member States have not repealed tax regimes labelled ‘harmful’ before a long period of time and have not exchanged the relevant information regarding their potentially harmful regimes, such as tax rulings, prior to scandals revelations; is of the opinion that the Union should develop tools to enforce its policy against HTP;
Amendment 188 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Calls for a revision of the criteria, the governance and the scope of the CoC preferably through a legally binding instrument that should replace the current intergovernmental arrangements and allow for a transition to qualified majority voting; requires that Parliament be included in the process of designing and adopting new policies and criteria to combat HTP;
Amendment 194 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Considers the reform of the criteria of the CoC to be a matter of urgency and that it should assess, all regimes proposing a tax rate below the future internationally agreed minimum effective tax rate in the framework of Pillar II of the Inclusive Framework as being potentially harmful, unless the revenues qualifying for a deduction or a reduced tax rate comply with robust and progressive economic substance requirements; advises a minimum effective rate of 21 %, following the recommendations of the US Administration in the Made in America Tax Plan;
Amendment 196 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Considers the reform of the criteria of the CoC to be a matter of urgency and that it should assess, beyond preferential regimes, all regimes proposing a tax rate below the future internationally agreed minimum effective tax rate in the framework of Pillar II of the Inclusive Framework as being potentially harmful, unless the revenues qualifying for a deduction or a reduced tax rate comply with robust and progressive economic substance requirements ;
Amendment 205 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Urges an enlargement of the scope of the CoC, notably by including preferential personal income or capital tax regimes, or personal income and wealth tax regimes that could lead to significant Single Market distortions, so the CoC scope captures regimes aimed at attracting high net worth and high level of income not created in the Member State proposing the tax regime;
Amendment 210 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)
Paragraph 17 a (new)
Amendment 215 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Requires that the body in charge of implementing the Union policies against HTP, which is currently the CoC Group appear at least once a year before Parliament;
Amendment 222 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Welcomes the publication of the biannual reports of the CoC Group to the Council; appreciates the efforts made to release CoC Group-related documents and work; regret show ever the lack of accessibility of that information and believes that a dedicated online tool should be created to avoid relying only on Council conclusions to retrieve essential information about tax policy at EU level;