54 Amendments of Danuta Maria HÜBNER related to 2016/2038(INI)
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the ‘Panama Papers’ and ‘LuxLeaks’ scandals, as revealedrevelations, as made public by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), have shown the urgent need for the EU and its Member States to fight tax evasion and avoidance and act for increased cooperation and transparency in order to re-establish tax justicemake our tax systems fairer and ensure that corporate taxes are paid where value is created;
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas it is the right of businesses to choose where they locate their activities and whereas taxation is one of the criteria used by them in order to make such choices;
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A b (new)
Recital A b (new)
Ab. whereas businesses are the engines of growth and job creation and whereas well-designed tax systems should provide them with the appropriate incentives to produce, recruit and innovate;
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the scale of tax evasion and avoidance is estimated by the Commission to be EUR 1 trillion19 a year, while the OECD estimates20 the revenue loss at global level to be between 4 % and 10 % of all corporate income tax revenue, representing between EUR 75 and EUR 180 billion annually, at 2014 levels; whereas these are only estimates and the actual figures might be even higherdifferent; whereas the costs to society of such practices are evident; whereas tax fraud, tax evasion and aggressive tax planning erode the tax base of Member States and thereby lead to loss of tax revenues; __________________ 19 http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/taxati on/tax_fraud_evasion/a_huge_problem/ind ex_en.htm, European Commission, 10 May 2016. 20 Measuring and Monitoring BEPS, Action 11 - 2015 Final Report, OECD/G20 Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Project.
Amendment 50 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas convergence of tax policies should also be accompanied by greater controls and more investigations of harmful tax practices; whereas the Commission has started new formal investigations regarding tax treatment of MNEs; whereas the assessment of tax policy measures from a State aid point of view is an approach that has recently gained in importance; whereas further reflection and measures in order to better understand and address the interplay between taxation and competition are necessary; whereas a number of investigations by the Commission in matters of state aid were still ongoing at the time of adoption of this report; whereas certain Member States have initiated recovery procedures against some MNECs;
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)
Recital E a (new)
Ea. whereas aggressive tax planning in not per se illegal; whereas a clear and sound definition of what constitutes aggressive tax planning is missing; whereas it is difficult, when analysing the tax-minimising schemes designed by multinational firms, to distinguish what is legal but brings negative social consequences from what is genuinely illegal;
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E b (new)
Recital E b (new)
Eb. whereas the best tool to combat aggressive tax planning is well-designed legislation, implemented in a proper and coordinated way;
Amendment 63 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E c (new)
Recital E c (new)
Ec. whereas dispute resolution systems for double taxation have displayed important shortcomings, with a rise in the number of cases brought, a decline in the number of cases completed, and a lengthening of the procedures; whereas the OECD has decided to tackle this issue under Action 14 of its BEPS Action Plan; whereas concerns are raised that Country-by-Country reporting, by showing more clearly where the tax base is located, might lead to more conflicts between States claiming a share of such tax base, thereby making good dispute resolution regimes even more necessary;
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas some specific tax jurisdictions actively contribute to designing aggressive tax policies on behalf of MNEs who thereby which favoidur taxation avoidance; whereas the corporate tax rate in some jurisdictions is close or equal to zero per cent; whereas the complexity of different tax systems create a lack of transparency which is, as well as mismatches which are globally harmful;
Amendment 80 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas the lack of transparency and, more generally, non-compliance with control requirements, and deficient knowledge of final beneficiaries and continued banking secrecy are obstacles to ending tax evasion and avoidance; whereas the opacity of such practices is used by some tax agents in the financial sector for aggressive tax practices; whereas there is no automatic exchange of information between countries, beyond the pre-existing bilateral tax conventions; whereas, without effective enforcement, the weaknesses of the systems will encourage tax evasion and avoidance;
Amendment 82 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G a (new)
Recital G a (new)
Ga. whereas bank secrecy laws are being gradually lifted;
Amendment 91 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K
Recital K
K. whereas some Member States have prepared their own lists of uncooperative jurisdictions; whereas there are big differences between these lists as to how uncooperative jurisdictions or tax havens are defined or assessed and whereas there are doubts as to the possibility to establish an independent and impartial process to draw up such lists; whereas the OECD’s list of uncooperative jurisdictions hadoes not proved effectiv longer serve its purpose; whereas a common Union-wide definition and list of uncooperative jurisdictions isare still lacking; whereas the most effective solution appears to be a gradual approach whereby a constructive dialogue with the jurisdiction is started in order to improve its tax governance and its compliance with international standards before the country is added to a blacklist;
Amendment 101 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L
Recital L
L. whereas some financial institutions have played a role as intermediaries in setting up complex legal structures leading to aggressive tax planning schemes used by MNEs, as evidenced in ‘LuxLeaks’ and the ‘Panama Papers’; whereas legal loopholes, mismatches and lack of coordination, cooperation and transparency between countries create an environment that facilitates tax evasion; whereas banks could have played a positive role in combatfinancial institutions are nevertheless key and indispensable auxiliaries ing the erosion of national tax bases by, for instance, using the means of exchange offight against tax fraud, due to the financial account and beneficial ownership information they have at their disposal in a more cooperative spiritand whereas it is therefore crucial that they fully and effectively cooperate in the exchange of such information;
Amendment 107 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital M
Recital M
M. whereas some major financial institutions have set up subsidiaries in special tax jurisdictions or in jurisdictions with low or very low corporate tax rates; whereas somea number of financial institutions have recently closed down some of their branches in those jurisdictions;
Amendment 113 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital N
Recital N
N. whereas the biggest European bankEU credit institutions are already subject to public country-by- country reporting requirements under the CRD IV; whereas none of the financial institutions which appeared in front of the Special Committee raised any significant objection with regard to the disclosure requirements; whereas some of them clearly said they were in favour of this requirement and would support it becoming a global standard; whereas, nevertheless, the risk that, for some small companies operating in other sectors and whose geographical scope of activities is more limited, the information required might cause a competitive disadvantage should not be discarded,;
Amendment 116 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital P
Recital P
P. whereas banks and MNEs which appeared before the Special Committee did not fully answer all the questions of its members, and; whereas the questions asked were complex and covered a wide range of issues; whereas some of the issues raised therefore remained unanswered or ill- defined; whereas some of them sent written contributions (see Annex 2) at a later stage;
Amendment 124 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital S
Recital S
S. whereas several studies from the Commission have clearly shown that the link between the patent box and R&D is in most cases arbitrary and/or artificialnot always straightforward; whereas this inconsistency may lead to the assumption that these schemes are in most cases set upse schemes being used for tax avoidance reasonpurposes; whereas tax incentives for incomes generated by R&D, chiefly patent boxes, often result in large decreases in tax revenue for all governments, including those engaging in such a policy;
Amendment 126 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital S a (new)
Recital S a (new)
Sa. whereas R and D expenditures and intellectual property creation should be appropriately factored in when taxing EU companies in order to promote R and D and innovation in the EU;
Amendment 135 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital V
Recital V
V. whereas it was only five months after the beginning of the term of its Special Committee that some Room documents and minutes of the Code of Conduct Group were made available to MEPs in camera on EP premises; whereas, while additional documents have been made available, some documents and minutes still remain undisclosed or missingavailable; whereas the Commission stated at an informal meeting that it has made all the documents at its disposal available to the Special Committee and any further relevant meeting documents, should they ever have been in the Commission’s possession, must therefore have been lost;
Amendment 148 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital Y a (new)
Recital Y a (new)
Ya. whereas at their meeting of 14 and 15 April 2016, the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors have reiterated their commitment to timely and widespread implementation of the G20/OECD BEPS package and encouraged all relevant and interested countries and jurisdictions to quickly join in the new framework; whereas at the same meeting, they reiterated the high priority they attached to financial transparency and effective implementation of the standards on transparency by all, in particular with regard to beneficial ownership information;
Amendment 152 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital AA a (new)
Recital AA a (new)
AAa. whereas all States and international players should strive to be fully in line with OECD recommendations when reforming their tax systems in order not to create new mismatches;
Amendment 173 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Welcomes the Anti-tax Avoidance Package (ATAP) published by the Commission on 28 January 2016, as well as all legislative proposals and communications already undertaken afterwards; calls on the Council to reach a unanimouswelcomes the adoption by the Council of the Directive amending the Directive on Administrative Cooperation in order to establish non-public Country by Country reporting, while regretting that the Council did not wait to know and consider the position onf the ATAP and kEuropean Parliament before agreeing on its own position and did not foreseep the Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive as one singlinvolvement of the Commission in the exchange of information; calls on the Council to reach a unanimous position on the Anti-Tax Avoidance dDirective; welcomes the initiative to create a common Union definition and list of uncooperative jurisdictions in the External Strategy for Effective Taxation;
Amendment 185 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Urges the Commission to come forward with a proposal for a common corporate consolidated tax base (CCCTB) which would provide a comprehensive solution to most harmful tax practices within the Union, would bring clarity and simplicity to businesses and reduce their administrative burden, and would facilitate cross-border economic activities within the Union; believes that theat consolidation of the CCCTB is essential andis the essential element of the CCCTB; takes the view that consolidation should be introduced as soon as possible and that any intermediate system including only tax base harmonisation with a loss offset mechanism can only be temporary; believes that the introduction of a full CCCTB, mandatory at least for large firms, is becoming increasingly urgent; calls on the Member States to promptly reach an agreement on this and to swiftly implement ite CCCTB proposal when it is submitted and to swiftly implement the legislation thereafter;
Amendment 200 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Welcomes the Commission’s adoption on 12 April 2016 of a proposal for a directive amending Directive 2013/34/EU as regards disclosure by companies, their subsidiaries and branches, of information relating to income tax and to increased transparency in company taxrporate taxation; regrets, however, that the proposed scope, criteria and thresholds are not in line with the previous positions adopted by Parliament; recognises that these disclosures by companies should remain as close as possible to the OECD template;
Amendment 214 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Underlines that the automatic exchange of information will result in a large volume of data needing to be treated, and insists that the issues relating to computer processing of the data concerned must be coordinated, as mustnd the necessary human resources fordevoted to analysing the data; calls for the strengthening of the Commission’s role in this work;
Amendment 223 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Insists that concrete legislative action needs to be taken on transfer pricing, since 70 % of profit shifting is done through transfer pricing; underlines that the best way to tackle this issue is the adoption of a full CCCTB;
Amendment 233 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Welcomes the fact that the Commissioner for Competition, Margrethe Vestager, has categorised transfer pricing as a particular focus area for state aid cases, as it is reported to be a common tool used by MNEs for tax evasiondodging schemes such as inter-group loans;
Amendment 236 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Notes that guidelines to identify and regulate tax-related State aid do not currently exist while this type of State aid has proven to be a worrying tax avoidance tool; reiterates accordingly its call for the Commission to draw up such guidelines as soon as feasible;
Amendment 237 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Strongly emphasiesses that the work of whistleblowers is crucial for revealing scandalsinformation ofn tax evasion and tax avoidance, and that, therefore, protection for whistleblowers needs to be legally guaranteed and strengthened EU-wideat the EU level; notes that the European Court of Human Rights and the Council of Europe have undertaken work on this issue; considers that courts and Member States should ensure the protection of legitimate business secrets while in no way hindering, hampering or stifling the capacity of whistleblowers and journalists to document and reveal illegal, wrongful and harmful practices where this is clearly and overwhelmingly in the public interest; reiterates its view that protection must be granted to whistleblowers when they inform the public after they have first notified the competent EU or national authority and such authority has failed to take within a reasonable timeframe appropriate action based on the information received; regrets that the Commission has no plans for prompt action on the matter;
Amendment 246 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Notes that the Commission has launched a public consultation on dispute settlement mechanisms to avoid double taxation; improving double taxation dispute resolution mechanisms in which three possible ways forward are investigated: encouraging Member States to amend their bilateral tax treaties; requiring Member States to implement measures making their systems more effective, or introducing a comprehensive EU legal instrument; awaits with great interest the findings of the consultation; stresses that, whatever the option retained, the setting of a clear timeframe for dispute resolution procedures and the binding nature of the decisions will be key to enhancing the effectiveness of the systems;
Amendment 264 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Calls on the Commission to come up as soon as possible with a common Union definition and list of uncooperative jurisdictions (i.e. a ‘blacklist of tax havens’), based on sound and objective criteria, including full implementation of OECD recommendations, BEPS actions and Automatic Exchange of Information standards, and welcomes the Commission’s intention to reach an agreement on such a list within the next six months; calls on the Member States to endorse that agreement by the end of 2016; ; stresses that the reflection on the criteria used, the countries to be prioritised and the listing and de-listing process should be thorough in order to ensure that the list can be objective and serve as a real deterrent, without this approach being used as an excuse to ditch or delay the initiative; believes that an escalation procedure, starting with a truly constructive dialogue, prior to the inclusion on the list, with the jurisdiction in which shortcomings are identified, will be essential in order to also achieve a preventive effect of the listing;
Amendment 284 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Calls for a concrete Union regulatory framework for sanctions against the blacklisted non-cooperative jurisdictions, including, but not limited to, the possibility of reviewing and, in the last resort, suspending free trade agreements and prohibiting access to Union funds; calls for the sanctions to also to apply to companies, banks, and accountancy and law firms, and to tax advisers proven to be involved with those jurisdictions; insists that sanctions should be designed in such a way as not to harm the legitimate interests of businesses and ordinary citizens;
Amendment 318 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Notes that until now, patent, knowledge and R&D boxes have not proven effective inshould fostering innovation in the Union, but are, rather,; regrets that they are, instead, often used by MNEs for profit-shifting through aggressive tax planning schemes, such as the well-known ‘double Irish with a Dutch sandwich’; considersis of the opinion that patent boxes are an ill-suitedneffective tool for achieving economic objectives; insists that R&D can be promoted through subsidies which should be given preference over patent boxes, as subsidies are less at risk of being abused by tax avoidance schemes; observes that the link between patent boxes and R&D activities is often arbitrnot always straightforwaryd and that current models lead to a race to the bottom with regard to the effective tax contribution of MNEs;
Amendment 340 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Observes that some banks, tax advisers, law and accounting firms and other intermediaries have played a key role in designbeen instrumental in organising aggressive tax planning schemes for their clients;
Amendment 347 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Is concerned about the lack of transparency and adequate documentation within financial institutions and law firms pertaining to the specific models of company ownership and control recommended by tax and legal advisors, as confirmed by the recent ‘Panama Papers’ scandalrevelations;
Amendment 351 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Calls on the Commission to come forward with a Union Code of Conduct for all advisory services, including a Union incompatibility regimefor existing codes of conduct for the tax advising industry to be strengthened and, in particular, to provide for situations of potential conflicts of interests to be clearly and understandably disclosed; asks the Commission to study the need for a Union Code of Conduct for taxall advisers, in orderory services, and aimed to prevent them fromgulate the practice of advising both public and private sectors ands well as to prevent other conflicts of interests;
Amendment 356 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Stresses the importance of clear separation between tax advising services and auditing services within accountancy firms; asks the Commission to study the possibility of revising the Accounting Directive and Regulation to this effectDraws attention to the risks of conflicts of interests stemming from the provision within the same firms of tax advising services and auditing services; asks the Commission to ensure the proper implementation of the legislation aimed to prevent such conflicts and to study the need to revise the Audit Directive and Regulation in order to clarify and/or tighten their provisions, in particular the provisions of article 22 of the Audit Directive as well as the provisions of article 5 of the Audit Regulation and the definition of the "material effect" of non- audit services therein;
Amendment 365 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Stresses the need for concrete sanctions, including the possibility of revoking business licences for professionals and companies proved to be involved in designing, advising on the use of, or utilising aggressive tax planning and evasion schemes; rRequests that the Commission explore the feasibility of introducing proportional financial liability for tax advisers proven to be engaged in unlawfuillegal tax practices;
Amendment 385 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28
Paragraph 28
28. Reiterates the crucial role of whistleblowers in revealing misconduct and illegal and wrongful practices; considers that such revelations, which shine a light on the magnitude of tax evasion and avoidance, are clearly in the public interest, as demonstrated in the recent ‘Panama papers’ leakrevelations; stresses that their actions must remain in compliance with national laws;
Amendment 388 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29
Paragraph 29
29. Observes that the Commission is limiting its action to monitoring developments in different areas of Union competences, without planning to take any concrete steps to tackle the issue; notes that this lack of ambition could endanger the publication of new revelations, thereby potentially leading to European tax authorities losing legitimate tax revenuenot planning to take any concrete steps to tackle the issue of whistleblowers but is limiting its action to monitoring the developments on this matter in different areas of competence of the Union; regrets that the Commission has not provided a satisfactory response to the demands contained in paragraphs 144 and 145 of Parliament’s resolution of 25 November 2015;
Amendment 398 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32
Paragraph 32
32. Regrets that the Commission, despite having provided some internal minutes of the meetings of the Code of Conduct Group, was unable to keep all records of the documents distributed; considers that it is the duty of the Commission to keep all traces and records of all information and documents circulated within the remit of the Code of Conduct Group, in order to assess the compliance of the Member States’' measures pursuant to the Treaty; calls on the Commission to take urgent action to improve this situation by retrieving all the documents; calls on the Council and the Member States to cooperate with the Commission on this matter;
Amendment 405 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33
Paragraph 33
33. Notes the continuing lack of transparency of the working methods of the Code of Conduct Group, which is preventing anyone of the factors hampering concrete potential improvement in terms of tackling harmful tax practices;
Amendment 429 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35
Paragraph 35
Amendment 453 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 37
Paragraph 37
37. Calls for urgent action against tax fraud, tax evasion, tax havens and aggressive tax planning; regrets that the Council has for a number of years impedednot taken any decisive action on these issues, and reminds Member States of the possibility available to them of establishing systems of enhanced cooperation (between at least 9 Member States) in order to speed up action on harmful and illegal tax practices;
Amendment 459 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 38
Paragraph 38
Amendment 465 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 39
Paragraph 39
39. Welcomes the renewed focus at G8 and G20 level on tax issues, which should lead to new recommendations; calls on the Commission to maintain a coherent position on behalf of the Union at the upcoming G20 meetings and ad hoc symposia; requests the Commission to regularly inform Parliament about allthe findings and possible consequences of G20 decisions on combating corporate tax base erosion and aggressive tax planning practices;
Amendment 479 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 41
Paragraph 41
41. Calls on the Commission to include in all trade and partnership agreements good governance clauses, including an effective and comprehensive implementation of BEPS measures and global automatic exchange of information standards;
Amendment 490 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 43 a (new)
Paragraph 43 a (new)
43a. Welcomes the pilot project for the automatic exchange of beneficial ownership information between tax authorities launched last April by the five largest EU Member States; calls, as it is the stated intention of these countries, for this initiative to be extended and to constitute the basis for a global standard of information exchange similar to the one existing for financial account information;
Amendment 492 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 44
Paragraph 44
44. Calls for the establishment of a Union register of beneficial ownership, as the next step in the process of enhancing the availability of beneficial ownership information and the effectiveness of the exchange of such information, for the establishment of a Union register of beneficial ownership accessible to tax authorities and presenting all necessary data protection safeguards, which would form the basis of a global initiative in this regard; stresses the vital role of institutions such as the OECD and the UN in this connection;
Amendment 501 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 45
Paragraph 45
45. Calls, as the ultimate goal, for a global assets register of all assets held by individuals, companies and all entities such as trusts and foundations, to which tax authorities would have full access and which would include appropriate safeguards to protect the confidentiality of the information retained therein;
Amendment 511 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 46
Paragraph 46
46. Stresses the need for a common and comprehensive EU/US approach on the implementation of OECD standards and on beneficial ownership; stresses furthermore that good governance clauses and the full BEPS action plan should be included in the Transatlantic Trade Investment Partnership (TTIP) in order to ensure a level playing field, create more value for society as a whole and combat tax fraud and avoidance and achieve a leadership by transatlantic partners in the promotion of tax good governance;
Amendment 524 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 48
Paragraph 48
48. Regrets deeply that the timeframe for the present report has not allowed for a thorough examination of the ‘Panama Papers’ caseTakes note of the so-called ‘Panama Papers’ leak that shed light on the use of shell companies by private citizens in order to conceal taxable assets; stresses the urgent need for a full and proper follow-up by Parliament in this regard; underlines the immense political importance of analysing the modus operandi of the companies and private citizens involved within the Panama papers scandalpractices described with a view to tackling legislative loopholes; welcomes therefore the establishment of a Committee of inquiry dedicated to the investigation of these revelations;
Amendment 527 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 49
Paragraph 49
Amendment 538 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 51
Paragraph 51
51. Commits to continuing the work initiated by its Special Committee, addressing the obstacles that prevented it from completing its fullencountered in the fulfilment of its mandate, and ensuring a proper follow-up of its recommendations; instructs its competent authorities to identify the best institutional set-up for achieving this;