Germany, France and Italy urge EU to write common corporate tax laws

In a letter sent to Pierre Moscovici, European Commissioner for Taxation, finance ministers from France, Germany and Italy urged the European Union to create a comprehensive anti-BEPS (Base erosion and profit sharing) directive for member states to adopt by the end of 2015.

The letter followed a tax scandal which hit Luxembourg in November 2014, ultimately uncovering the way companies were exploiting EU member states' tax competition.

The European Commission said it would work on preventing such competition in the future by trying to pass a proposed CCCTB (Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base) law, which was still stuck in the EU Council of Ministers. The three ministers also noted the OECD and G20 countries already had an anti-BEPS initiative.

Any agreement on taxation requires unanimity at the European level, which according to EurActiv makes a deal on the CCCTB virtually impossible.

• Primary Source

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ESO: Background information: Vestager says will use 'Luxleaks' documents in EU tax probe http://www.europeansources.info/record/vestager-says-will-use-luxleaks-documents-in-eu-tax-probe/

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