BRUSSELS: The Commission said that it will now ask all member states to provide information about their tax ruling practices. Member states will be asked to confirm whether they provide tax rulings and, if they do, to provide a list of all companies that have received a tax ruling from 2010 to 2013.
EU competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said: “We need a full picture of the tax rulings practices in the EU to identify if and where competition in the Single Market is being distorted through selective tax advantages. We will use the information received in today’s enquiry as well as the knowledge gained from our ongoing investigations to combat tax avoidance and fight for fair tax competition.”
The European Commission revealed that it is to ask all member states whether they offer tax rulings. If so, they will be asked to provide information on their tax ruling practices and a list of all companies that have received a ruling between 2010 and 2013.
The Luxembourg Government is to provide the European Commission with a list of the tax rulings issued by its tax authorities, along with a list of the beneficiaries of its concessionary tax regime for intellectual property (IP) income.
Bettel said, “The vast majority of EU member states issue tax rulings. Luxembourg is strongly in favor of the creation of a level playing field with regard to international taxation and tax rulings.” He added that the Government’s decision is “a clear illustration of Luxembourg’s commitment to finding common solutions on a European level.”
The Commission already requested this information from Cyprus, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, and the UK in June 2013. It also previously asked for information on so-called patent box regimes (which offer lower tax rates on IP income) from Belgium, Cyprus, France, Hungary, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and the UK.
“I hope and have every reason to assume that going forward my team and I will see good cooperation by the Luxembourg authorities and all other member states in our efforts to tackle unfair tax avoidance.”
