Fair and simple taxation – Commission package
On 15 July 2020 the European Commission adopted a new Tax Package which has been designed to ensure that EU tax policy supports Europe’s economic recovery and long-term growth.
With an objective of tax fairness, the package seeks to address tax abuse and unfair tax competition and to increase tax transparency. It also focusses on simplifying tax rules and procedures by seeking to removing tax obstacles and administrative burdens for taxpayers in many sectors.
The Tax Package is built on the following 3 Pillars:
- TAX ACTION PLAN for fair and simple taxation – the Commission is proposing 25 measures to reduce tax obstacles, promote taxpayers rights and help Member States secure tax revenues.
- TAX GOOD GOVERNANCE – the Commission has proposed a reform of the Code of Conduct, which addresses tax competition and tackles harmful tax practices within the EU. It also proposes improvements to the EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions.
- BETTER ADMINISTRATIVE CO-OPERATION (DAC7) – the proposal extends EU tax transparency rules to digital platforms, ensuring that Member States automatically exchange information on the revenues generated by sellers on online platforms. The proposal also strengthens and clarifies the rules in other areas in which Member States work together to fight tax abuse, for example through joint tax audits.