European Commission

EU Commission calls out harmful tax practices in Belgium, Cyprus, Hungary, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands

March 7, 2018

The EU Commission took tentative steps toward reducing harmful tax competition among EU member countries today, publishing European Semester country reports that identify seven EU countries as potentially facilitating tax avoidance by multinationals. The Commission today also released a taxation paper detailing economic evidence that suggests that particular tax avoidance structures , , ,

EU threatens import tax on US jeans, bourbon, orange juice, Harleys if US hits EU steel, aluminum with tariffs: Doug Palmer and Adam Behsudi / Politico→

March 6, 2018

Professor offers arguments supporting EU Commission conclusions in McDonald’s State aid investigation: Fadi Shaheen / SSRN→

May 23, 2017

EU and US officials, tax profs debate EU State aid tax cases: Diane Ring / The Surly Subgroup→

May 9, 2016

See: The Surly Subgroup.

EU proposes digital services tax on large tech companies

March 22, 2018

A new EU proposal to temporarily tax tech firms targets large firms that sell online advertising or provide online sales platforms, like Google, Facebook, Uber, and Airbnb, but leaves untouched companies that sell products online. The proposal, one of . .

Europe

EU paper considers whether transfer pricing adjustments should change VAT taxable amount: EU Commission, VAT Committee→

April 7, 2017

Europe

Ireland issued 335 tax rulings in 2010–2012: TheJournal.ie→

January 26, 2017

See: TheJourtnal.ie.

EU Commission to draft financial transaction tax legislation

October 12, 2016

The EU Commission has been asked to prepare draft legislation for a financial transaction tax (FTT) following significant progress made on the design of the tax . . .

Americas

European Parliament debate reveals strong support for Commission’s state aid verdict in Apple case: European Parliament→

September 14, 2016

See: European Parliament.

Americas

US criticizes EU probe of multinational corp tax as Apple decision nears

August 24, 2016

The Obama Administration, in a letter and white paper released today, ramped up its criticism of European Commission efforts to force large multinational firms to pay back amounts deemed illegal state aid that were allegedly received through overly generous tax rulings, known . . .

Europe

Council revises EU tax blacklist adding UAE, Bermuda and eight others, agrees to countermeasures

March 12, 2019

Davide Anghileri of the University of Lausanne discusses the EU Council’s decision today to adopt a revised EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes . . .

Europe

EU proposes shift to majority voting for tax

January 15, 2019

The EU Commission today proposed a four-step plan to end by 2025 existing procedures that require EU decisions on taxation matters to . . .

EU should consider majority voting for tax matters, Commission says

September 13, 2018

Davide Anghileri, University of Lausanne discusses an EU Commission policy paper released on September 12 which includes priorities in the field of taxation . . .

German tax law permitting loss carryforward following restructuring of failing companies is not State aid, EU court rules

July 3, 2018

Konstantin Sakuth of Linklaters LLP, Munich, discusses a June 28 European Court of Justice decision which settled a long-running debate regarding the legality under EU State aid rules of Germany’s “restructuring clause,” which allows carryback of tax losses following some company restructurings . . .

EU prepares challenge to Trump border tax plan: The Telegraph→

February 15, 2017

See: The Telegraph.

Europe

New European VAT rules for cross-border e-commerce proposed

December 8, 2016

Davide Anghileri of the University of Lausanne discusses the European Commission’s December 1 proposal to modernize and unify throughout Europe the value added tax (VAT) rules for cross-border business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce . . .

EU Commission expected to advance proposal allowing member states more freedom to set VAT rates: Ruth Berschens / Handelsblatt→

March 30, 2016

See: Handelsblatt. More: Financial Times.

Europe

EU expected to propose public country-by-country reporting of multinationals’ tax information

February 8, 2016

The European Commission will likely propose EU-wide legislation requiring large multinationals to publicly report their European profits and . . .

EU Commission, by focusing on the low effective corporate tax rates of the largest digital firms, incorrectly concludes that digital firms pay too little tax, think tank concludes: Matthias Bauer / ECIPE→

March 20, 2018

Analysis of EU Commission digital transaction communication: Diane Ring / Surly Subgroup→

September 25, 2017

EU considers compromise proposal to restrict low-tax enterprise zones: Joe Kirwin / Bloomberg BNA→

May 3, 2017

EU Commission seeks public input on cooperation to prevent cross-border VAT fraud

March 2, 2017

The EU Commission today opened a public consultation to gather views on the functioning of administrative cooperation regarding value added tax (VAT) and regarding the fight. . . .

Europe

EU proposals for public country-by-country reporting, CCCTB should be rejected, Irish finance minister says

February 16, 2017

Ireland’s Minister for Finance Michael Noonan today expressed opposition to EU Commission proposals for a common consolidated corporate tax base (CCCTB) and public country-by-country reporting, arguing that both measures are counterproductive . . .

Americas

EU’s Vestager says Apple state aid decision may take awhile: Aoife White & Stephanie Bodoni / Bloomberg Business →

March 9, 2016

See: Bloomberg Business. More: Irish Examiner.

Belgium

Belgium to challenge EU commission finding that excess profits tax ruling system provides state aid: King & Wood Mallesons→

February 23, 2016

See: King & Wood Mallesons

EU seeks agreement on digital tax by year end: Francesco Guarascio / Reuters→

September 5, 2018

EU proposal takes aim at letterbox companies established to avoid tax

April 25, 2018

The European Commission today proposed harmonized rules that would prevent companies from moving their registered offices to letterbox companies located in other EU countries thereby creating undue tax advantages. Similar rules are provided for cross-border company divisions. The EU proposals are part of a package of company law rules . . .

EU examining allegation that Ikea received State aid through tax deals: Gaspard Sebag & Francine Lacqua / Bloomberg→

September 14, 2016

See: Bloomberg.

US and EU officials to discuss State aid case against Apple: Stephanie Bodoni & Aoife White / Bloomberg →

July 12, 2016

See: Bloomberg.

European Commission

EU Commission lays out vision for new European VAT system

April 7, 2016

The EU Commission on April 7 presented its VAT action plan, designed to update the EU VAT system to make it more fraud-proof, reduce administrative burdens, account for the digital . . .

EU seeks to improve cross-border business tax dispute resolution

February 16, 2016

The European Commission on February 16 launched a public consultation seeking feedback on ways to improve the resolution of double . . .

Europe

Luxembourg to support Ireland’s appeal in Apple State aid tax case: Joe Brennan / The Irish Times→

March 29, 2017

See: T he Irish Times.

Apple may lose EU State aid dispute, tax experts say

December 20, 2016

The EU Commission, on December 19, released the public version of its decision, announced last August, determining that Ireland granted illegal State aid to Apple by issuing the company’s subsidiaries overly-generous private tax rulings. A lot is at stake, including . . .

Europe

Professor calls for renewed investigation of Lux Leaks scandal: Omri Y. Marian / SSRN→

November 3, 2016

See: SSRN.

Americas

Apple could face $8 billion tax bill from EU State aid probe: Adam Satariano / Bloomberg Business→

January 19, 2016

See: Bloomberg Business. See also, The Guardian, Business Standard, Fortune, International Business Times, The Independent.

But see: Apple tax bill from EU State aid probe more likely about $200 million, not $8 billion: Tim Worstall / Forbes→

EU proposal requires disclosure to tax authorities of cross-border tax planning schemes by intermediaries, clients

June 21, 2017

Tax advisors, accountants, banks, lawyers, and other intermediaries who design and promote potentially aggressive cross-border tax planning schemes and, in some cases, the clients that receive such advice, would be required to meet new reporting. . .

EU, China sign customs cooperation agreement

June 7, 2017

The European Union and China on June 2 signed a customs cooperation agreement covering the years 2018–2020, providing the priorities for EU-China customs cooperation, writes Davide Anghileri . . .

Europe

EU report on transfer pricing valuation techniques released: EU Commission→

January 5, 2017

See: EU Commission report.

Americas

An inside look at the EU Commision ‘Maxforce team’ focusing on EU State aid enforcement, Apple case: Gaspard Sebag, Dara Doyle & Alex Webb / Bloomberg→

December 19, 2016

See: Bloomberg.

Emma Hinson Sims on The Pillar One blueprint — the potential future of international taxation and transfer pricing: “HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO A VERY SMART, BEAUTIFUL, YOUNG LADY ON JANUARY 13TH.” January 6 ,2024

David Valdez on US Tax Court resolves Whirlpool tax dispute involving Mexican maquiladora structure: “Greetings Whirlpool Mexico, I’m trying to contact someone involved with the decision making for transportation from all of your Mexican…” October 20 ,2023

Jose Dominguez on The new US international tax rules: what you need to know about GILTI, FDII, BEAT etc.: “Very informative article. Question. Do you have a software to compute these US International Calcs to make them in house?” April 12 ,2023

Ciro César Soriano de Oliveira on Danish High Court rules on beneficial ownership of dividends for tax purposes: “Dear Ms Susi, This article is immensely clarifying. I’d like to know whether Danish Supreme Court has already granted its…” March 24 ,2023

Ciro César Soriano de Oliveira on Danish High Court rules on beneficial ownership of dividends for tax purposes: “Dear Ms. Susi, This article is very clarifying. I wonder whether Danish Supreme Court has already granted its decision referred…” March 24 ,2023

May 19 – 20	Tax Council Policy Institute Conference	Washington, D.C.
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