EU ECOFIN meeting of December 8, 2015 – Taxes are on the Agenda again

The agenda of the meeting of the European Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) of December 8, 2015 has been published on the website of the European Council/Council of the European Union. According to the Agenda, ECOFIN will a.o. discuss 2 tax subjects. First of all the proposal for a Directive on the financial transaction tax. And secondly Base Erosion and Profit Shifting.

Financial Transaction Tax
With respect to the financial transaction tax the Agenda states: “The Council will discuss the state of play of the ongoing negotiations on the proposal for a directive on the financial transaction tax. 11 member states are currently participating in the enhanced cooperation procedure on the proposed directive, with all member states participating in the discussion.”

In this respect the Council attached a document titled: “Proposal for a Council Directive implementing enhanced cooperation in the area of Financial Transaction Tax – State of play” to the Agenda.

Base Erosion and Profit Shifting
In this respect the Agenda states: “The Council will exchange views on how to swiftly and efficiently implement the OECD’s BEPS project conclusions in the EU context, including through EU legislation.Ministers will be briefed on the state of play of discussions on the international anti-BEPS aspects of the proposal for a common consolidated corporate tax base (CCCTB).

The Council is expected to adopt two sets of Council conclusions: one on BEPS in the EU context, and the other on the future of the code of conduct on business taxation.”

Unfortunately we have not been able to access the documents that seem to relate to this Agenda subject. If these documents become accessible during the next few days, we will update this article in that respect.