EU reforming corporate tax rules [What Think Tanks Are Thinking]

Written by Marcin Grajewski

The European Commission held an orientation debate on 27 May on updating corporate taxation rules to make them fairer, more transparent, more growth-friendly and better shielded against abuse. The discussion will feed into an Action Plan, to be presented in June, which is expected to reopen the discussion on a Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base in the EU.  On March 18, the Commission presented its Tax Transparency Package, which strengthens the exchange of information between Member States on their tax rulings.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has made the fight against tax avoidance and evasion a top priority, as reports that large corporations use aggressive cross-border accounting practices to lower their tax obligations have sparked controversy.

This note highlights a selection of blog posts, commentaries and studies by major international think tanks and research institutes on reforms of EU taxation rules, with hyperlinks to the texts concerned.

Commentaries

Making sense of profit shifting

U.S. Tax Foundation, May 26, 2015

Two new reports challenge the OECD’s work on corporate tax cheating

Tax Justice Network, May 4, 2015

A European approach to corporate tax

Bruegel, January 29, 2015

Europe’s big tax scam

European Council on Foreign Relations, November 17, 2014

Cracking the mainstream notion of fiscal competition

European Centre for International Political Economy, October 14, 2014

A grim update on European tax policy

Cato Institute, June 6, 2014

Analyses

The blame game: Multinational taxation in an era of knowledge

Progressive Policy Institute, May 18, 2015

Entering a world of footloose tax bases: can the EU generate its own income?

Swedish Institute for European Policy Studies, April 2015

The tax policy debate: a matter for society as a whole

Federation of European Accountants, April 2015

Ten reasons to defend the corporate tax

Tax Justice Network, March 18, 2015

How to stop corporate tax dodging in Europe and beyond

Oxfam International, March 2015

Corporate Taxation in Europe: Let’s get it together!

Centre for European Policy Studies, February 15, 2015

Hidden profits: The EU’s role in supporting an unjust global tax system 2014

European Network on Debt and Development, November 2014

Tax loopholes are good

Ludwig Von Mises Institute, August 13, 2014

Corporate income tax rates around the world

1. S. Tax Foundation, August 2014

Tax harmonization in Europe: Moving forward

Bruegel, French Council of Economic Analysis, July 7, 2014

Political and economic integration in the EU: The case of failed tax harmonization

University of Zurich, Journal of Common Market Studies, 2013

Accordi fiscali e aiuti di stato

Istituto Bruno Leoni, April 16, 2015

Corporate tax avoidance and managerial incentives generated by shareholder dividend tax policy

Columbia University, University of Illinois, University of Virginia, October 2013

Tax competition and the myth of the ‘race-to-the-bottom’: Why governments still tax capital

Chatham House, February 2013