European Parliament finds unity in fighting tax avoidance

Today the European Parliament releases a list of recommendations to crack down on tax evasion.

Following evidence of tax avoidance in both the Panama Papers and the Paradise Papers, the EU has steadily moved to crack down on tax evaders. In December alone, the EU blacklisted 17 countries with lax tax laws, outlawed anonymous bitcoin transactions and launched an investigation against Ikea for setting up a shell company to hide its profits.

Cracking down on tax evaders may be a rare point of agreement in an increasingly fractious European Union; taking the fight to the economic elite fits the political narrative of both the centre-left and the resurgent populist right, with enough buy in from the centre-right to make such moves politically possible.

The European Parliament is expected to announce a range of suggested actions, from increasing sanctions on blacklisted countries to the adoption of EU-wide taxation regulations. Although EU tax havens, like Ireland, will try to water down provisions that are codified into law, expect the EU to make some progress levying tariffs on foreign tax havens and bringing suits against recalcitrant companies.