Pulling the Plug: How to stop corporate tax dodging in Europe and beyond

Overview

Tax dodging is receiving increasing political attention in Europe. From corporate transparency legislation to early reflections on a European wealth tax, European institutions are promoting tax reforms that have the potential to reduce economic inequality in Europe and beyond – if they are well designed and implemented.

The need to find financial resources to restore European growth, combined with recent media scandals, have opened up opportunities for progressive reforms to fight tax evasion and tax avoidance which costs the European Union around ‚¬1 trillion a year. The European and global political context has never been so favourable, with new European institutions having to deliver on fighting tax havens, harmonizing corporate taxation, improving tax transparency and ensuring greater tax cooperation.

This briefing explores some of the solutions for fighting corporate tax avoidance that the European Union should present in 2015, and explains why it is important to adopt them as soon as possible.