EC announces plans to crackdown on cross-border tax evasion
European Commission announces measures to combat tax fraud and 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.
Read the full story:
EC
Adopts Mutual Assistance Proposals