EU official vows to fight against tax evasion

BRUSSELS, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) — European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs Pierre Moscovici vowed on Thursday to push forward fight against tax evasion and raise the bar for tax good governance in Europe.

“It is clear that we need to take a more systematic approach to the problem of corporate tax avoidance. We need to look at the root causes and consider long-lasting remedies,” Moscovici said when addressing the European Parliament.

“In terms of transparency, last month the Council agreed on the Commission’s 2013 proposal to abolish bank secrecy and apply the global standard for automatic exchange of information from 2016,” he added.

He noted he will give high priority to advancing the Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base proposal (CCCTB), saying the CCCTB could fundamentally change the corporate tax environment in Europe, ensuring a closer link between taxation and economic activity and shutting off major channels of avoidance.

Moscovici said the Commission has already launched investigations into Member States’ tax rulings practice that could favor certain specific companies.