As AK EUROPA already reported last week, representatives of multinationals and those European countries, which last year were rated by the Commission as “non-cooperating states”, faced questions by the Special Committee on Tax Rulings of the European Parliament. Subsequent to the question and answer session, this week an exchange took place with major European banks (Crédit Agricole, ING Group, UBS, UniCredit etc.) to establish whether these advised their clients on matters of tax optimisation.

Position of the banks

The individual banks emphasised in their statements that no tax consultations had taken place, but that reference is only made to tax deductibility when a financial product is purchased. Complex transactions on tax oases are only approved in cases, which are based on business activities. Apart from that, one would continue to be prepared to cooperate with financial authorities, to show transparency by country-specific information in annual reports and to implement the anti-BEPS measures by the OECD (of which the AK has reported on several occasions).

Position of the European Parliament

However, the MEPs used this opportunity to obtain more detailed and more specific information. They criticised the low-tax rulings of states such as Luxembourg; the discrepancies of some banks between tax paid and applicable tax in a country; the countless subsidiaries in so-called tax havens, which are disproportionate compared to the population and the either lacking or not comprehensible information in published country reports.

Further information:

Tax oases and multinationals answer questions of MEPs

Documents on committee meeting

Invited Banks

Anti-BEPS Measures

Commission raises the stakes in the fight against tax dumping