22 Amendments of Sirpa PIETIKÄINEN related to 2013/0000(INI)
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas the persistence of distortions caused by non-transparent or harmful tax practices on the part of jurisdictions acting as tax havens can lead to artificial flows and negative effects within the EU internal marketharmful tax competition between member states is clearly against the logic of a single market, and more must be done to harmonise tax bases within an ever-closer economic, fiscal and budgetary Union;
Amendment 41 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas unilateral national measures have proven ineffective, and this necessitates a coordinated and multi- pronged approach at national, EU and international level; whereas the effective fight against tax evasion and fraud requires strongly reinforcing the cooperation between the tax authorities of different Member States as well as reinforced cooperation of the tax authorities with other law enforcement authorities within a given Member State;
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)
Recital E a (new)
Ea. Whereas, as stated by the OECD in its report on Addressing Base erosion and Profit Shifting, the fundamental policy issue to be tackled is the fact that the international common principles drawn from national experiences to share tax jurisdiction have not kept pace with the changing business environment; whereas a more active role of the Commission and the Member States is required in the international arena to work for establishment of international standards based on principles of transparency, exchange of information and abolition of harmful tax measures;
Amendment 63 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Emphasises that the EU should lead the discussions and should assist non-EU countries in subscribing to the EU principles of transparency, exchange of information and abolition of harmful tax measures;Urges the Commission and the Member States to consistently highlight on the international arena, most notably in OECD and G20, the paramount importance of reinforced cooperation in the fight against tax avoidance, aggressive tax planning and tax havens, and more specifically to - advocate making automatic exchange of information the global standard to benchmark cooperativeness of jurisdictions; - support the work done on updating the OECD transfer pricing guidelines - advocate creating publically available government registers of the real beneficiaries of companies, trusts and other similar legal structures
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Considers it of paramount importance that the Commission deal with non-EU countries on behalf of the EU without leaving the initiaMember States authorise the Commission to negotiate tax agreements with third countries on behalf of the EU instead of continuing with the practivce to MS to individually engage in bilateral agreements; of bilateral negotiations producing sub- optimal results from the point of view of the EU as a whole and often also of the Member State concerned;
Amendment 86 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Calls on the Commission to prevent national, regional and local authorities, non-EU countries and companies that breach EU tax standards from receiving state aid and EU funding of all typeensure that Member States do not provide state aid, EU funding or access to public procurement to the companies that breach EU tax standards;
Amendment 108 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Stresses that a strong commitment to reducing the tax gap would contribute to the necessary stabilisation of financial markets, help with fiscal consolidation while easing its austerity effectreducing sovereign debt levels, increase public investment resources, improve the efficiency and fairness of national tax systems, and raise general tax compliance levels;
Amendment 112 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Encourages the Commission and the Member States to enhance the use of the European semesterFISCALIS programme by integrating the EU tax gap strategy into ithe annual national stability and growth programmes and national reform programmes;
Amendment 127 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Calls on Member States to agreedopt and implement a compulsorythe directive on a Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB), as adopted by the European Parliament;
Amendment 135 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Calls on Member States to revokeIs of the opinion theat banking licensces of financial institutions if they actively assisting in tax fraud by offering products or services to customers enabling them to evade taxes or refuse to cooperate with tax authorities should be revoked;
Amendment 137 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. ECalls for the explicit listing of all tax crimes as predicate offence to money laundering in the review of the Third Anti-Money Laundering Directive; encourages the Commission to introduce proposals for a harmonised tackling of tax fraud under criminal law, in particular as regards cross-border and mutual investigations; believes that explicit mention of tax crimes as predicate offences to money laundering should be included in the review of the Third Anti- Money Laundering Directive;
Amendment 148 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16a. Welcomes the adoption by the Council of the new framework for administrative cooperation and calls for the prompt implementation by the Member States of this framework;
Amendment 149 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 b (new)
Paragraph 16 b (new)
16b. Highlights the importance of stronger cooperation between the tax authorities and other law enforcement bodies, especially with the view of sharing information acquired in relation to investigations linked to money laundering and related crimes;
Amendment 154 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Stresses the importance of implementing new strategies and making better use of existing EU structures for improved combating of VAT fraud; urges, in this respect, the Council to promptly adopt and implement the Directive amending Directive 2006/112/EC on the common system of value added tax as regards a quick reaction mechanism against VAT fraud;
Amendment 166 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Highlights the need to upgrade and extCalls on the Member States, as a matter of priority, to adopt and implemendt the scope of theamended Savings Tax Directive in order to end banking secrecy; considers it high time thatclose the loopholes of the existing Directive and better prevent tax evasion; urges, in this respect, Luxembourg and Austria to abandon their opposition to an effectivethis amending Directive and to authorise the Commission to renegotiate corresponding agreements with Switzerlandrelevant third countries;
Amendment 170 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Welcomes the progress made on country-by-country reporting under the Accounting and Transparency Directives; urges the Commission tohighlights the importance of introduceing country-by-country reporting for cross- border companies in all sectors, requiring disclosure of information on the trading of a group as a whole in order to monitor respect for proper transfer pricing rule in enhancing the transparency of payments transactions;
Amendment 173 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Calls on the Commission to take immediate action with regard to strengthening transparency and regulation in respect of company registries and registers of trusts and foundations, including creating publically available government registers of the real beneficiaries of companies, trusts and other similar legal structures;
Amendment 174 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 a (new)
Paragraph 21 a (new)
21a. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to develop the system of Advance Pricing Agreement applicable to transfer pricing, whereby a new requirement would be added to the existing obligations under the EU Transfer Pricing Documentation guidelines. The documentation as well as the tax declaration requirements shall be larger for transactions with jurisdictions on the "black list";
Amendment 183 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Notes that proper identification of taxpayers is key to successful exchange of information between national tax administrations; calls on the Commission to speed up the creation of an EU tax identification number (TIN), applicable to all legal and natural persons engaged in cross-border transactions; is of the opinion that the TIN should be connected to an international open database for VIES (VAT) system, assisting in identifying the unpaid taxes and other avoided liabilities;
Amendment 185 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 a (new)
Paragraph 24 a (new)
24a. Welcomes the work by the Commission on creating a European taxpayer's code; is of the opinion that such a code will help increase the legitimacy and intelligibility of the given tax system, and assist taxpayers by ensuring greater transparency on the rights and obligations of taxpayers;
Amendment 188 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Calls for a review of the Parent- Subsidiary Directive and the Interests and Royalties Directive with respect to revising and aligning the anti-abuse clauses within both pieces of legislation, and eliminating the double non-taxation issue;
Amendment 218 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30
Paragraph 30
30. Urges the Commission to compile and create a European blacklist of tax havens; calls, in this context: - on Member States to suspend or terminate existing Double Tax Conventions with jurisdictions that are on the blacklist, and to initiate Double Tax Conventions with jurisdictions that cease to be tax havens; - on the Commission for a limited review of the Auditing and Accounting Directives to require separate accounting and auditing of profits and losses of each holding company of a given EU legal entity situated in a jurisdiction placed on this black list;