The European Commission has adopted an ambitious new Tax Package to ensure that EU tax policy supports Europe’s economic recovery and long-term growth.

The package is made up of three separate but related initiatives:

  • The Tax Action Plan presents 25 distinct actions to make taxation simpler, fairer and better attuned to the modern economy over the coming years. These actions will make life easier for honest taxpayers, by removing obstacles at every step, from registration to reporting, payment, verification and dispute resolution. The Action Plan will help Member States to harness the potential of data and new technologies, to better fight tax fraud, improve compliance and reduce administrative burdens.
  • The proposal on administrative cooperation (DAC 7) extends EU tax transparency rules to digital platforms, so that those who make money through the sale of goods or services on platforms pay their fair share of tax too. This new proposal will ensure that Member States automatically exchange information on the revenues generated by sellers on online platforms. The proposal also strengthens and clarifies the rules in other areas in which Member States work together to fight tax abuse, for example through joint tax audits.
  • The Communication on tax good governance focuses on promoting fair taxation and clamping down on unfair tax competition, in the EU and internationally. To this end, the Commission suggests a reform of the Code of Conduct, which addresses tax competition and tackles harmful tax practices within the EU. It also proposes improvements to the EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions, which deals with non-EU countries that refuse to follow internationally agreed standards. This has, so far encouraged third countries to adopt tax good governance standards, but more needs to be done. The Communication also outlines the EU’s approach to work together with developing countries in the area of taxation, in line with the 2030 Sustainable Development agenda.

Further information is available here.

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