Amendments to draft resolution on Tax Havens and Tax Evasion

Transcription

1 Amendments to draft resolution on Tax Havens and Tax Evasion Party Line Action Current Text Proposed Amendment Explanation 1 GGEP 1 replace Title: On Tax havens and evasion title: "Fighting tax evasion, avoidance and more explicit and thorough money laundering" 2 Die Grünen 4 add... multinational companies and wealthy... multinational companies, wealthy individuals undermine... individuals, terrorists, drug dealers and weapon dealers undermine... 3 EELV 5 add Moreover it widens the social inequalities self explanatory and endangers the public services. 4 Die Grünen 6 add... equality, democracy and the rule equality, tax justice, democracy and 5 GroenLinks 6-7 replace Done on a global, systemic level, this is an attack on the European welfare states and our society at all. 6 FYEG 7 replace this is an attack on the European welfare states and our society at all. the rule... Done on a global, systemic level, this is an attack on the European welfare states and our society at large, as well as on developing countries that do not get their fair share of profits made by multinational companies exploiting the resources of those countries. this is an unacceptable attack on the global society at large and the European welfare states in particular. 7 Groen 7 replace and our society at all and our society as a whole 8 Die Grünen 9 add The Panama Papers scandal confirmed... Offshore Leaks, Lux Leaks, the Panama and Bahamas Papers scandal confirmed... It does not only affect the European welfare state, important to mention the effects in developing countries. Page 1 Amendments submitted to Draft Resolution on Tax Havens and Tax evasion

2 9 Die Grünen 9 delete that there are still myriad ways for that there are still myriad ways to It's not only the rich that the rich to exploit secretive 10 offshore exploit secretive 10 offshore tax regimes. exploit offshore tax regimes tax regimes. but also terrorists, drug dealers, weapon dealers etc. 10 Die Grünen 11 replace... wealthy people or companies wealthy people as well as companies GroenLinks replace Powerful and wealthy people or Powerful and wealthy people or companies still find ways to escape the companies still find ways to escape the system and to get privileged treatments in system and to get privileged treatments in order to reduce their tax bills or hide order to reduce their tax bills or hide the financial proceeds of their their financial proceeds. crimes. 12 Groen 11 add tax havens are not game over tax havens are not over yet 13 Groen 11 replace companies still find ways to escape companies still find ways to the system circumvent the system 14 EELV 23 replace We need laws that guarantee We need laws, that guarantee transparency in the future and we have transparency in the future and we have to protect the whistle blowers, who to protect the whistle blowers when expose the dismeanours of the they expose the wrong doings at past. present and in the future. 15 FYEG 22 add We need laws, that guarantee transparency in the future We need laws and international coordination on a global scale, that guarantee transparency in the future... Page 2 Amendments submitted to Draft Resolution on Tax Havens and Tax evasion Using tax loopholes or havens is, in many jurisdictions, not a crime, in the sense of the criminal legislation/code. This sentence wrongly suggests otherwise. We, as greens, may find such behaviour appalling which is why we want the existence of legal avenues to evade taxes to be curtailed. However to call such behaviour a crime when it is not, is wrong. more exact... the wrong doings are to be denounced whether they be present or future

3 16 Die Grünen 25 add... stronger European rules..... stronger European and international rules 17 Vihreät - De Gröna 25 replace We need stronger European rules and cooperation on this matter. We need binding European and international rules and cooperation on this matter. 18 Die Grünen 25 add A European approach... A European and international approach FYEG 25 add A European approach... A European and global approach EELV 27 add We need stronger European rules and cooperation on this matter. A European approach is necessary in many of these areas as criminals and tax dodgers know no borders and benefit from uncoordinated actions. We need stronger European rules and cooperation on this matter. A European approach is necessary in many of these areas as criminals and tax dodgers know no borders and benefit from uncoordinated actions. The tax laws of one country should not allow people to escape taxation in another. Given the cross-border nature of tax evasion and avoidance, EU-wide action is essential. European solutions are not enough to tackle the global problem, joint global efforts are what the Greens/EFA, CSOs and several researchers call for. makes the point stronger as it is more explicit Page 3 Amendments submitted to Draft Resolution on Tax Havens and Tax evasion

4 21 GroenLinks delete "and There is a need to step up our efforts in There is a need to step up our efforts in Unfortunately organised organised the fight against economic criminality and the fight against economic criminality in crime/ corruption may exist crimes / organised crimes / political order to move towards the European in the EU, but that is not the political corruption in order to move towards Union citizens expect and deserve. purpose of this resolution. corruption" the European Union citizens expect and This resolution seeks to deserve. block legal avenues to evade taxes within the EU. Tackling organised crime and corruption is a different 22 Groen add We welcome the fact that the European Parliament, often pushed forward by the Green Group in the European Parliament, has been active to reign in tax dodging and we will work to create a strong cooperation between the European Parliament and national parliaments in this regard. 23 Die Grünen 40 replace publications...disclosures 24 Die Grünen 42 add... public country by country reporting and register of assets. We welcome the fact that the European Parliament, often pushed forward by the Green Group in the European Parliament, and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) have been active to reign in tax dodging and we will work to create a strong cooperation between the European Parliament, PACE and national parliaments in this regard.... effective public country by country reporting, public reporting on tax rulings and register of assets. matter. We would like to add that both institutions have been active on this topic and would like to encourage cooperation. Current European rulings in many cases are not strong enough, one example being far too high threshold of sales revenue for multinational companies in the Directive on Country-by- Country Reporting Page 4 Amendments submitted to Draft Resolution on Tax Havens and Tax evasion

5 25 Vihreät - De 42 add public country by country reporting mandatory public country by Voluntary reporting doesn't Gröna and register of assets. country reporting and register of assets. work, as shown recently in the case of Finland s stateowned companies. Voluntary reporting is also one of the key asks MNEs currently make, as they ve understood that some sort of reporting 26 GGEP replace The European Commission currently only has five persons in its anti-money laundering taskforce. The European Commission currently only has less than a dozen persons in its taskforce to prevent financial crimes. 27 Die Grünen 50 add.. empower European bodies..... empower European and national bodies EELV / Groen 55 replace and between different countries has not and between different countries has not / Die Grünen be efficient been efficient 29 Groen replace remove the legal constraints, impeding remove the legal constraints that greater collaboration. have been impeding better cooperation. will entail sooner or later. factual correction editorial this is just a grammar mistake Page 5 Amendments submitted to Draft Resolution on Tax Havens and Tax evasion

6 30 Strana 59 add a new none Zelených / paragraph 4. Czech Greens 31 FYEG 59 add new point 32 Die Grünen 61 replace when while 33 Die Grünen / 62 replace a save haven a safe haven Groen 4.Taxes must be paid where the profits are created. Today, a multinational can actually send its profits made in one country to its subsidiary in some other country where taxes are low. Instead of paying taxes separately for each subsidiary we need to introduce, for instance, the concept of global consolidated profits and make a company pay in every country precisely that amount on taxes that is adequate to the amount of sales made in the same country. (For instance, you made 30 % of your sales in USA, so you pay 30 % of your global consolidated profits in USA.) 4. Prohibit the public administrations to hire services of companies with registered offices in tax havens. In order to ensure transparency in public procurement, we must promote European, national, regional and local administrations to reward transparent and ethical businesses. Having registered offices in tax havens must be penalized in the processes of public procurement. Page 6 Amendments submitted to Draft Resolution on Tax Havens and Tax evasion The main demand should be, that it must be avoided that corporations send their profits to their branches in tax havens, where they pay very small tax. It is necessary that they pay their taxes where they their profits are made. Therefore it is necessary to introduce the concept of global consolidated profits. We feel the need to hightlight this main goal in the paper. The next paragraph supporting CCCTB is then just a first step for cooperation on the EU level.

7 34 EELV 63 add We call on the European Commission to Whistleblowers face uneven present a legislative proposal on the levels of protection in the protection of whistleblowers,who expose EU, with no protection at all bad practices, based upon the inputs of the in some member states. The draft directive proposed by the European Parliament has Greens/EFA group. called on the EU Commission to propose EU legislation on the protection of whistleblowers on a number of occasions and there is a clear legal basis for such a framework under 35 GGEP 63 add We call on the European Commission to present a legislative proposal on the protection of whistleblowers, on the model of what Greens developed in Die Grünen replace Strong cooperation on the national level. Tax legislation is a national competence and a field of fierce competition between Member- and also Non-Member-States of the European Union. The Greens call for cooperation and coordination. Our first goal is a Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base. The fight against austerity politics and for a green economic transition starts here. Putting more ambitious efforts into tax harmonisation in Europe. The Greens urgently call for cooperation and coordination in fighting harmful tax dumping.therefore, our primary goal must be to adopt a Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base and at the same time to look at harmonising tax rates in the EU. The fight against tax dumping is an important starting point towards more tax justice. the EU Treaties. recall Greens' action in the EP Page 7 Amendments submitted to Draft Resolution on Tax Havens and Tax evasion

8 37 GGEP replace 5. Strong cooperation on the national 5. Strong cooperation at the European more detailed and accurate level. Tax legislation is a national level. There is fierce competition between competence and a field of fierce Member- and also Non-Member-States of competition between Member- and also the European Union on taxation, often Non-Member-States of the European leading to a race to the bottom and Union. The Greens call for cooperation member states willing to provide even and coordination. Our first goal is a wider tax breaks than their neighbour.the Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Greens call for cooperation and Base. coordination. Our first goal is a Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base in Europe which must be accompanied by a minimum corporate tax rate [of 25%] in the Member states. 38 EELV 65 add Strong cooperation on the national level. Strong cooperation on the European self explanatory 39 Vihreät - De Gröna 65 add 5. Strong cooperation on the national level. and national levels 5. Strong cooperation on the national and international level. 40 Strana 65 replace Strong cooperation on the national Strong cooperation on the Zelených / level. international level. Czech Greens European solutions are not enough to tackle the global problem, joint global efforts are what the Greens/EFA, CSOs and several researchers call for. The text of the paragraph demands cooperation on the intergovernmental level, therefore the title seems confusing. Page 8 Amendments submitted to Draft Resolution on Tax Havens and Tax evasion

9 41 EELV add Tax legislation is a national competence Tax legislation is a national competence self explanatory and a field of fierce competition between and a field of fierce competition between Member- and also Non-Member-States of Member- and also Non-Member-States of the European Union. the European Union, fostering a fiscal war in Europe at the expense of European people. 42 EELV 66 add... the European Union.... the European Union. The EU should self explanatory accelerate its work towards an harmonisation of the tax systems, to move it from work-related taxes to a polluterpays system and tax revenue. This is of utmost importance both for avoiding social and environmental dumpings and tax evasion even inside the EU. As the EU doesn't have a direct role in raising taxes, an incentive has to be found and recommandations issued. 43 GroenLinks 67 add The Greens call for cooperation and coordination. 44 EELV 68 replace The fight against austerity politics and for a green economic transition starts here. The Greens call for cooperation and coordination to avoid a race to the bottom between member states competing through tax rulings for multinationals. The fight against social inequalities and the shift from austerity policies to a green transition of the economy starts here. ii is not only about what is legal. It is also about what is just. For that we need policy in place with the intension to stop tax rulings which are only favourable for multinationals The Greens seek to act on issues and change policies. Page 9 Amendments submitted to Draft Resolution on Tax Havens and Tax evasion

10 45 Vihreät - De Gröna 69 add here. here. On the international level, we call for strengthening of the UN Tax Committee and its resources in order to secure truly inclusive desicion-making on tax justice. 46 EELV 70 add New bullet point A common system for taxing financial transactions has to be generalised to all member states, as a way to ensure the financial sector makes a fair contribution to the cost of the recession, of which it was a major cause. (and since which it has received substantial amounts of government support). Most of the tax-related desicion-making is currently centered around OECD. For a global problem, we need a truly inclusive international body. UN Tax Committee is an existing one, although currently under-resourced and only with an advisory mandate. at the moment this exists for 11 member states, it has to become the general code. Page 10 Amendments submitted to Draft Resolution on Tax Havens and Tax evasion