taxation

January 1, 2019

Commission Consulting on Move to Qualified Majority Voting (QMV) on Taxation

On 20th December, the European Commission launched a (relatively brief) consultation on moving from unanimity to qualified majority voting (QMV) in the Council on certain tax issues. The public consultation closes on the 17th January, with “indicative planning” to be carried out this quarter.
December 1, 2018

Credit Day: Improving Appetite for Fiscal Responsibility

13 December marks Credit Day across the European Union. This is the day when, on average, European countries’ central governments exhaust their annual tax revenue and start relying on borrowed money to fulfil their functions – 18 days before the end of the year. According to a study by the Institut Économique Molinari, this is 7 days later than last year, which is a substantial improvement.
July 1, 2018

The Impact of the Energy Taxation Directive

Instead of comprehensive re-examination of the Energy Taxation Directive, the European Commission is examining whether ETD should continue the exemptions and lower tariffs for specific products.
January 25, 2018

Supervising the Tech Giants

The rise of the ‘tech giants’ is, of course, a significant commercial threat to more traditional media, but it also raises some potentially important issues of public policy. These companies have variously been accused of facilitating the spread of ‘fake news’ and extremist material, dodging taxes, and exploiting their market dominance.
January 1, 2018

How the Municipal VAT Exemptions Promote Tax Increases in the EU

As a general rule, local governments are exempt from VAT in the EU. Thus, VAT is not payable on the tax-financed consumption of municipalities and other local governments, at least when the services are produced in-house.
January 1, 2018

Is Neoliberalism to Blame for Orbàn and Le Pen?

Populism is on the rise, especially in Europe. Determining the causes is of crucial political importance. Some claim that “neoliberal” policies such as deregulation and free trade have contributed to the populist tide.
November 1, 2017

Fair and Efficient? On the EC’s Proposals for Corporate Tax Reform in the Digital Single Market

n the wake of the Ecofin meeting that took place in Tallinn on September 15-16, the European Commission published a communication on “A Fair and Efficient Tax System in the European Union for the Digital Single Market” — code for “How to extract more tax revenue from multinational digital companies”.