Activities of Claude GRUFFAT 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 (40)
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 18 a (new)
Citation 18 a (new)
Amendment 8 #
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 avoidance, 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 economythe economic recovery and the challenges related to the climate crisis, ageing population, the ecological transition and the digitisation of the economy involve very profound changes and increase the need to mobilise more resources and re-evaluate current taxation policies, in particular the many loopholes embedded in complex national taxation polices, so that this transition is fair;
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
A a. whereas the tax incidence has shifted from wealth to income, from capital to labour income and consumption, from MNEs to SMEs, and from the financial sector to the real economy, thus becoming more regressive; whereas this shift in the tax burden from more mobile to less mobile taxpayers results in a lower average tax burden for the very rich income;
Amendment 13 #
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 Market, supported by a simple, fairer and more predictable tax environment; (ii) securing tax revenues for Member States to finance the recovery, the ecological transition to a carbon-neutral economy and reduce debt to GDP and (iii) fair taxation of businesses and citizens, enhancing bothtax morale and trust in society and fair competition; ; whereas tax morale is generally higher in countries that tax more heavily, which is evident in the willingness of citizens to pay tax in return for effective public services1a; _________________ 1a https://www.oecd- ilibrary.org/sites/0533eea9- en/index.html?itemId=/content/componen t/0533eea9-en
Amendment 27 #
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 and the increase of intangible assets in value chains create a challenge in terms of traceability of economic operations and taxable events and facilitate tax avoidance practices;
Amendment 31 #
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 harmonised and coordinated approach to the corporate taxation system across the Union could further enable the tackling of unfairput an end to tax competition caused byand harmful tax practices that distort the functioning of thin the corporate single market and often lead to misallocation of resourcescome tax field and therefore secure a well-functioning single market;
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas increased transparency in the area of corporate taxation can improve tax collection, increase tax compliance and is also necessary to strengthen fair competitiveness in the single market, 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; whereas the use of technology and digitalisation can also facilitate the taxation of mobile tax bases;
Amendment 39 #
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 businesses; is concerned that urgently needed VAT reforms such as the definitive VAT regime and coordination of rates remain blocked in Council due to unanimity in tax matters;
Amendment 48 #
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’; welcomes and looks forward to the Commission’s proposals to harmonise withholding tax procedures and tax residence criteria;
Amendment 57 #
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 businesses; sStresses that theax reporting requirements should notavoid generateing significantly higher administrative costs for economic actors, notably for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs); notes that 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,in line with taxpayers' rights 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 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Notes that revenue loss in the Union due to international tax evasion by individuals, covering personal income tax, capital income taxes and wealth and inheritance taxes, has been estimated at EUR 46 billion in 2016; observes the current distortions of the single market due to an increasing and unregulated tax competition in the field of personal income, capital and wealth taxation; notes the ongoing competition in the Union for high net-worth individuals through preferential regimes such as expatriate and investment regimes; also notes the competition for pensioners and so-called ‘digital nomads’; underlines that tax competition for ‘digital nomads’ has accelerated due to telework in response to the COVID-19 crisis; highlights the inconsistencies in capital gains taxation across Europe and the negative fiscal spillovers resulting therefrom such as rewarding speculation; deeply deplores therefore that distortions in the area of personal income, capital gains, wealth and inheritance taxation were not translated in concrete actions in the Commission’s Action Plan;
Amendment 64 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4 b. Calls for greater alignment and administrative cooperation of capital gains taxation in the Union; calls on the Member States' Ministers of Finance to finally agree on the reform of the 1997 EU Code of Conduct on Business Taxation and expand it beyond corporate income taxation to tax competition for individuals in the Union; invites the Commission, in the framework of the upcoming Tax Symposium in 2022, to map all divergences in the tax systems of Member States and flag all possible distortions and develop a concrete action plan to tackle those distortions;
Amendment 66 #
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; highlights that better availability of data, by companies, individuals and tax administrations, can significantly contribute to better estimates; deplores that certain Member States such as Ireland and the Netherlands do not disclose their CbCR data fully at national level and in particular in the OECD Corporate Tax Statistics database; deplores further that Member States have not shared the needed information with the European Parliament in the framework of the DAC Implementation report; welcomes the adoption of the public country-by-country reporting proposal;
Amendment 72 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Recalls that tax transparency, fairness and certainty based on clear respective rights and duties is the main principle on which to build mutual trust between taxpayers and tax administrations; supports, in that context, the formalisation of the Charter on taxpayer’s rights; believes that further development and the identification of gaps in effective European dispute resolution mechanism need to be considered;
Amendment 78 #
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”; deplores the fact that proposals such as CCCTB, revision of the interest and royalty directive and the reform of the Code of Conduct on Business Taxation have remained blocked in the Council;
Amendment 87 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Takes note of the existing limits on decision making in the Council and calls for exploring all legal options as provided in the Treaties on taxation especially in order to ensure functionality of the single market and preserve Union competitiveness in the global market; recalls in this respect the Commission’s communication towards more efficient and democratic decision making in EU tax policy; deplores that article 116 TFEU, although suggested in the Commission’s Action Plan, has not yet been used in tax matters;
Amendment 92 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8 a. Welcomes the proposal for a Eurofisc 2.0 in the Commission’s Action Plan; strongly supports the Commission’s suggestion to expand it to direct taxation; supports Eurofisc in becoming a Union hub for tax information serving not only VAT purposes, but also financial market authorities, customs, OLAF and Europol; suggests connecting this legislative initiative to the developments in the area of anti-money laundering and in particular the proposed new Union authority to fight money laundering; reiterates, in this context, the recommendations from its resolution of 16 September 2021 on the implementation of the EU requirements for exchange of tax information: progress, lessons learnt and obstacles to overcome; notes that Eurofisc 2.0 could greatly contribute to the effective use by tax administrations of the tax information exchanged and the quality of information exchanged;
Amendment 96 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 b (new)
Paragraph 8 b (new)
8 b. Welcomes the establishment of the EU Tax Observatory; calls on the Commission to secure long-term and structural funding for this initiative at the end of the European Parliament’s preparatory action;
Amendment 97 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 c (new)
Paragraph 8 c (new)
8 c. Welcomes the proposal to harmonise the withholding tax relief procedures in the Union; calls on the Commission in this respect, and in response to the recent Cum-Ex revelations and the G20/OECD global tax deal, to propose minimum effective withholding tax rates for both intra-European payments and outbound payments to third countries of dividends, royalties and interests; calls on the Commission, in this respect, to relaunch the blocked revision of the interest and royalty directive;
Amendment 98 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 d (new)
Paragraph 8 d (new)
Amendment 99 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 e (new)
Paragraph 8 e (new)
8 e. Looks forward to the revision of the directive on the structure and rates of excise duty applied to manufactured tobacco; notes the large price gaps between Member States incentivising cross-border shopping; notes further the emergence of new products, such as e- cigarettes, heated tobacco products and new addictive products; concludes the low degree of coherence of the Directive with other Union policies and the need to develop synergies; strongly supports an ambitious revision including, in particular, a significant raise of the minimum rates;
Amendment 109 #
10 a. Welcomes the identified need in the Commission’s Action Plan to ensure coherence between tax policies and the European Green Deal; looks forward in this context to the proposal for reviewing VAT rates in the area of passenger transport exemptions; supports the end of exemptions for air and maritime transport; recalls, in this context, the joint statement by the Netherlands and eight other Member States in 2019 asking the Commission to come forward with an aviation tax proposal;
Amendment 115 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 b (new)
Paragraph 10 b (new)
10 b. Urges, in the framework of the ongoing negotiations on the revision of the VAT rate directive, Member States to phase out all zero-rates and reduced rates on harmful environmental goods and services; invites equally the Council to consider the idea of increased VAT rates compared to a standard VAT rate for environmentally harmful products to achieve the Union’s climate objectives;
Amendment 119 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 c (new)
Paragraph 10 c (new)
10 c. Notes with concern that some Member States do not generally exempt in-kind donations from VAT, leading businesses to destroy consumer goods, notably returns, rather than donating them to charitable causes, even though such an exemption is possible under the existing VAT Directive; calls on the Commission to issue guidance to Member States, clarifying that VAT exemptions for in-kind donations are compatible with the existing Union law on VAT until Council proposal 2018 (COM(2018) 20 final, Article 98.2) is adopted by Member States;
Amendment 125 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Highlights that the current global tax environment is outdated, and can only be fully addressed on a global level; considers that a; welcomes the 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 133 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
Amendment 138 #
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; stresses further that special regimes such as lower corporate income tax rates push high-income earners to incorporate avoiding progressive personal income taxation; notes that the corporate sector now accounts for a greater proportion of the overall economy due to a race to the bottom in corporate tax rates and the shift from personal income taxation to corporate income taxation; _________________ 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 144 #
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; 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; invites the Commission to consider expanding the scope by lowering the threshold as permitted under the OECD/G20 agreement, not applying the carve-out in intra-EU situations and inserting a broad revision clause in the directive implementing the agreement;
Amendment 156 #
15. Recalls that future Union policy options and political choices in the area of business taxation should be based on overall tax fairness, European Green Deal objectives, efficiency and transparency, leading to sustainable, redistributive and fair tax mixes and fairly shared taxes for all types of multinational companies, while reducing costs of compliance for taxpayers, as well as removing sources of business distortions in the Union single market, trade and investments;
Amendment 163 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Supports the rationale of the BEFIT, with the view to design a new and single Union corporate tax rulebook, based on a fair, comprehensive and effective formulary apportionment and a common tax base of income taxation for businesses, which will be providing clarity and predictability for companies, reflecting the consensus reached in the OECD Pillar 1 and Pillar 2 negotiations; warns that a significant shift in the formula to the sales component and the value attributed to intangible assets has the potential to undermine the fairness of the proposal;
Amendment 165 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16 a. Notes the idea of a stepwise implementation of unitary taxation in the Union, as a first step the formula apportionment could be applied to above- normal profits only; highlights that pillar 1 of the recent OECD/G20 agreement leads to a re-allocation of such excess profits to market jurisdictions; invites the Commission to reflect on the expansion of the OECD pillar 1 principles in the Union with lower thresholds, higher allocation and a more comprehensive formula including tangible assets and employment as an interim measure;
Amendment 172 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)
Paragraph 17 a (new)
17 a. Commits that the FISC subcommittee in the European Parliament will develop, in dialogue with experts, national parliaments and citizens, guiding principles ahead of the BEFIT proposal by the Commission in 2023;
Amendment 176 #
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 support the resilience of companies in adverse economic circumstances in the future revision of the first anti-tax avoidance directive and in particular the interest limitation rules;
Amendment 179 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Supports, for the purposes of tax transparency, the collection of regularly updated data on the effective corporate tax rates paid by the Union’s largest companies on their generated profits within the Union, such a mapping should be used to assess the efficiency of the tax framework and rules in place; welcomes and looks forward to the upcoming proposal for the annual publication of the effective corporate tax rate of certain large companies with operations in the Union; calls on the Commission to use Article 50 TFEU as a legal basis for such a proposal amending the Directive 2013/34/EU as regards disclosure of income tax information by certain undertakings and branches;
Amendment 181 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Requests that the Commission submit by 2022/2023 one or more legislative proposals following the recommendations set out in the Ais report and the annex hereto;
Amendment 190 #
Motion for a resolution
Annex I – Part C – title
Annex I – Part C – title
C. Reduction of tax gap, and compliance costs and the European Green Deal,
Amendment 200 #
Motion for a resolution
Annex I – Part C – Recommendation C2 – paragraph 1 – indent 3 a (new)
Annex I – Part C – Recommendation C2 – paragraph 1 – indent 3 a (new)
- Issue guidance to Member States, clarifying that VAT exemptions for in- kind donations are compatible with the existing Union law on VAT.
Amendment 201 #
Motion for a resolution
Annex I – Part C – Recommendation C2 a (new)
Annex I – Part C – Recommendation C2 a (new)
Recommendation C2 a Coherence VAT rates with European Green Deal The European Parliament calls on the European Commission to: • Come forward with a proposal for reviewing VAT rates in the area of passenger transport exemptions. Strongly supports the end of exemptions for air and maritime transport. • Come forward with a proposal to phase out all zero-rates and reduced rates on harmful environmental goods and services by 2030. • Explore the idea of increased VAT rates compared to a standard VAT rate for environmentally harmful products to achieve the Union’s climate objectives.
Amendment 203 #
Motion for a resolution
Annex I – Part C – Recommendation C2 b (new)
Annex I – Part C – Recommendation C2 b (new)
Recommendation C2 b Revision of the tobacco taxation directive The European Parliament calls on the European Commission to: • Come forward with the revision of the directive on the structure and rates of excise duty applied to manufactured tobacco. Notes the need to develop synergies and coherence with other Union policies and strongly supports an ambitious revision including in particular a significant raise of the minimum rates.
Amendment 205 #
Motion for a resolution
Annex I – Part C a (new)
Annex I – Part C a (new)
C a. D.Effectiveness of tax administrations, exchange of tax information and quality of data Recommendation D1 - Eurofisc 2.0 The European Parliament calls on the Commission to: · Come forward with the Eurofisc 2.0 proposal.Strongly supports the framework of the Commission’s suggestion to expand it to direct taxation and Eurofisc to become a Union hub for tax information serving not only VAT purposes, but also financial markets authorities, customs, OLAF and Europol.Suggests to connect this legislative initiative to the developments in the area of anti-money laundering and in particular the proposed new Union authority to fight money laundering.Reiterates the recommendations from its resolution of 16 September 2021 on the implementation of the EU requirements for exchange of tax information:progress, lessons learnt and obstacles to overcome.Notes that Eurofisc 2.0 could greatly contribute to the effective use by tax administrations of the tax information exchanged and the quality of information exchanged. Recommendation D2 - Public disclosure of tax information The European Parliament calls on the Commission to: · Come forward with the proposal for the annual publication of the effective corporate tax rates of certain large companies with operations in the Union using article 50 TFEU as a legal basis amending the Directive 2013/34/EU as regards disclosure of income tax information by certain undertakings and branches. Recommendation D3 - harmonisation of withholding taxation The European Parliament calls on the Commission to: · Come forward with a proposal to harmonise the withholding tax relief procedures and rates in the Union.Suggest minimum effective withholding tax rates for both intra- European and outbound to third countries payments of dividends, royalties and interests. · Relaunch the blocked revision of the interest and royalty directive.