Press Release: Parliament sets up a special committee on tax rulings

The European Parliament as a whole voted in February 2015 to set up a special parliamentary committee to look into EU member states’ 'tax rulings and other measures similar in nature or effect' (TAXE) and make recommendations for the future. The committee was established for an initial period of six months.

The committee was set up in the wake of a series of investigations launched by the European Commission into tax rulings for multinational companies in Luxembourg, Ireland, Belgium and the Netherlands.

In October 2015 it was announced that the TAXE Committee would hold an extraordinary committee meeting with various multinational corporations - who have declined previous invitations - to hear their views on recent developments in the corporate taxation in the EU and beyond. These include, among others, the OECD proposal on the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Action Plan to the G20 and the ongoing Commission consultation on Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB).

Airbus, BNP Paribas, SSE plc and Total had agreed to attend, as did Google and Facebook.

• Primary Source

EurActiv, 23.10.15: Facebook and Google to be grilled by MEPs over tax http://www.euractiv.com/sections/euro-finance/facebook-and-google-be-grilled-meps-over-tax-318834

European Parliament: Committees: Special Committee on Tax Rulings and Other Measures Similar in Nature or Effect http://www.europarl.europa.eu/committees/en/taxe/home.html

ESO: Commission decides selective tax advantages for Fiat in Luxembourg and Starbucks in the Netherlands are illegal under EU state aid rules http://www.europeansources.info/record/press-release-commission-decides-selective-tax-advantages-for-fiat-in-luxembourg-and-starbucks-in-the-netherlands-are-illegal-under-eu-state-aid-rules/

---