Germany announces tax policy goals for Council of the EU Presidency

By Francesca Amaddeo, Researcher, Tax Law Competence Centre (SUPSI), Manno, Switzerland

On 1 July, Germany disclosed its ambitious goals for its Presidency of the Council of the European Union in its programme“ Together for Europe’s recovery,” including its objectives in the area of tax cooperation.  

The EU is following the OECD tax work and proposals, especially those addressing the taxation of the digital economy.

In addition, the German Presidency will consider the introduction of a European financial transaction tax.

Pursuing transparency and collaboration, the German Presidency will update the directive on tax administrative cooperation on tax matters by improving the exchange of information related to digital platforms.

Tax simplification is another goal. “The increasing mobility of citizens, businesses and wealth require Member States’ tax authorities to work together in order to simplify taxation”, the programme says.

The programme expresses a message of hope, encouraging European Member States to recover from the COVID-19 crisis, on the one hand, and tackle tax evasion and tax avoidance on the other one, while, at the same time, boosting capital market competitiveness and exploiting new digital instruments, such as crypto assets.

The awareness of the EU’s problems moves this new Presidency to strengthen relationships between the Member States so they act as one unit.

Among the many issues addressed, the document stresses the importance of a sustainable financial market architecture, stable financial policy, and fair taxation.

The recent COVID-19 pandemic has highly affected business activities and companies, which had to improvise, adapting their structure to meeting needs. Their ability to succeed in this challenge has been strongly influenced by the exploitation of digital instruments.

Such an innovation implies a new approach also for the Member States and tax authorities, which have to safeguard their tax revenues.

This is why fair taxation, as well as equal distribution of tax burden, is crucial.

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Francesca Amaddeo

Lecturer-researcher at Tax Law Competence Centre, Department of Business Economics, Health and Social Care, University of Applied Science and Arts of Southern Switzerland (SUPSI)

Dr. Francesca Amaddeo, PhD in European law and national legal systems, is an Italian lawyer that works as Lecturer-researcher at the Tax Law Competence Centre, Department of Business Economics, Health and Social Care, University of Applied Science and Arts of Southern Switzerland (SUPSI).

Latest posts by Francesca Amaddeo (see all)

• International taxation: two-pillar plan and the OECD mainstream - February 28, 2022
• Swiss federal act on implementation of international tax agreements: ready for January 2022 - November 23, 2021
• EU Commission seeks to ease withholding tax mechanism on cross-border investments - October 26, 2021
• CJEU to review German transfer pricing obligation: do national tax rules affect EU freedoms? - October 11, 2021
• Switzerland advances withholding tax reform - May 17, 2021

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