Google tax: European Commission sets out new proposals to crack down on tax avoidance
The European Commission will today put forward new proposals to crack down on tax evasion and avoidance, as UK politicians continue to spar over Google’s tax payments.
Pierre Moscovici, the EU commissioner for economic and financial affairs, taxation and customs, is expected to lay out a series of legally-binding measures intended to close loopholes in existing tax laws.
Many of the proposals build on the OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project.
Among the suggested measures is a revision of the so-called administrative cooperation directive, which would introduce new requirements for countries to share tax information about multinational corporations with other EU member states.
Moscovici’s proposals will need the support of all 28 EU member states if they are going to be come law.
The Commission is expected to explore further tax-related measures, including requiring companies do disclose tax information to the public and imposing a so-called Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCTB) across the entire EU, later this year.
The Commission’s proposals today come as leading UK politicians sharpen their rhetoric over Google’s £130m back taxes deal with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).
Prime Minister David Cameron was forced to defend the government's approach to collecting corporation tax yesterday after Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn attacked the HMRC deal at Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs). Cameron in turn used the question to hit out at the opposition, saying Google’s disputed taxes “should have been collected under a Labour government”.