EC presents additional tools to fight aggressive tax planning
The launch of an application to report illegal business practices and the establishment of a special unit of the European Commission – these measures are intended to help the EU tackle aggressive tax planning. Information gained through these tools should make the investigation of illegal business practices faster and more efficient. The special unit will, among other things, focus on state aid in the context of EU law.
The European Commission presented a new tool that will allow whistle-blowers to anonymously report business practices that might be in violation of EU law. The application will primarily serve to gain information on possible violations of competition rules, the existence of cartel agreements and other illegal practices in awarding public contracts.
The new tool follows the existing whistle-blower programme whereby companies may report their own involvement in cartel agreements in exchange for mitigated sanctions. The application is accessible on the European Commission’s website.
The OECD is not lagging behind in this respect, either. In March, it released a report on technological tools to fight tax evasion and tax fraud, outlining how governments may use technologies to identify tax fraud and tax evasion.
Another measure is the establishment of a special unit within the EU Directorate General for Competition. The department will deal with aggressive tax planning and cases of state aid that might be in violation of EU law. A task force for dealing with tax planning practices and illegal state aid was established as far back as 2013 as a temporary tool of the Commission; now it will be a permanent unit within the Directorate General.