EC announces plans to crackdown on cross-border tax evasion

The European Commission has adopted proposals for new directives aimed at improving co-operation between member states to help combat tax evasion and fraud.

One of the key proposals is that member states would no longer be able use bank secrecy to reject cross border co-operation, according to tax-news.com.

Commissioner for Taxation and Customs, László Kovács, said: 'In a globalised world, where tax evaders and fraudsters take advantage of the different limitations on national tax administrations, efficient cooperation and mutual assistance between tax administrations is essential in better combating tax fraud.'

He added: 'Improved transparency, based on quick and simple information exchange mechanisms, is therefore crucial. In particular, it is unacceptable that bank secrecy in one member state can be allowed to constitute an obstacle to the correct assessment by the tax authorities of another member state of the amount of taxes due by one of its resident taxpayers.'

The new proposal is much wider in scope than existing rules on cooperation between tax authorities as it covers all taxes except those that are dealt with under a specific European Community legislation, such as VAT and Excise duties, according to tax-news.com.

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EC Adopts Mutual Assistance Proposals