New details emerge about proposed EU tax reforms

The European Commission will present its plan for tax reforms for Internet giants by the end of March, according to EU Economic Affairs Commissioner, Pierre Moscovici. Moscovici told a French radio station that the tax proposals would create ‘an electroshock’. In an interview with Reuters, French Finance Minister, Bruno Le Maire, said that he would like the EU to adopt the new tax regulation next year; ‘Kissing the feet of GAFAs won’t ensure our prosperity’, Le Maire said. The new coalition agreement in Germany aligns itself with the tax reforms, which now converge around the central idea of ‘an EU-wide Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base’, which means distributing revenue on a market share basis. This would make it easier and cheaper to do business in the Single Market and would act as a powerful tool against tax avoidance. The proposal is contested by some of the smaller countries in the EU, which fear that tax reforms could have adverse effects on their economies. Irish Finance Minister, Paschal Donohoe, indicated that there is a growing number of countries that are concerned about the proposed digital taxation measures.