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There is a movement calling for tax harmonization in EU. I think this is a "what-if" scenario. "What if there were no internal competition between EU state to m

by Iv 9y ago

There is a movement calling for tax harmonization in EU. I think this is a "what-if" scenario. "What if there were no internal competition between EU state to make a race to the bottom in terms of tax on profits?"

themihai 9y ago
Well the issue is not the competition on tax, it's tax avoidance/evasion. You can't compete on tax with fiscal paradises that provide no infrastructure to operate a business. Most of the corporations within EU simply create shell companies in Luxembourg and artificially siphon off their profits so that they can pay 1% tax there instead of aprox 20% within EU. Luxembourg doesn't contribute with anything(i.e. infrastructure) to their profit thus I believe this is not "fair". If this[1] is not tax evasion I don't know what tax evasion is [1] https://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/nov/05/-sp-luxembourg-tax-files-tax-avoidance-industrial-scale https://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/nov/05/-sp-luxembo...
- deleted 9y ago
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- peteretep 9y ago
  > You can't compete on tax with > fiscal paradises that provide > no infrastructure to operate a > business eg the Isle of Man, where you can get an EU VAT number and pay 0% corporate tax.
Shivetya 9y ago
well if you dug deep enough you would find it driven by the countries within the EU that have the stronger and more stable economies. In effect they will keep the poorer countries poor because they will be unable to provide tax incentives to gain new businesses. a classic move branded under some guilt assuming title to prey on people's ignorance to support it. while there may need to be limits on how sweet of deals that can be made the idea that you can "harmonize" taxes across such a diverse number of countries is unrealistic. Those large countries using this idea to protect their tax base aren't going to also turn around and bring up the poorer countries

by Iv 9y ago

themihai 9y ago

Well the issue is not the competition on tax, it's tax avoidance/evasion. You can't compete on tax with fiscal paradises that provide no infrastructure to operate a business. Most of the corporations within EU simply create shell companies in Luxembourg and artificially siphon off their profits so that they can pay 1% tax there instead of aprox 20% within EU. Luxembourg doesn't contribute with anything(i.e. infrastructure) to their profit thus I believe this is not "fair". If this[1] is not tax evasion I don't know what tax evasion is [1] https://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/nov/05/-sp-luxembourg-tax-files-tax-avoidance-industrial-scale https://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/nov/05/-sp-luxembo...

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
peteretep 9y ago
> You can't compete on tax with > fiscal paradises that provide > no infrastructure to operate a > business eg the Isle of Man, where you can get an EU VAT number and pay 0% corporate tax.

Shivetya 9y ago

well if you dug deep enough you would find it driven by the countries within the EU that have the stronger and more stable economies. In effect they will keep the poorer countries poor because they will be unable to provide tax incentives to gain new businesses. a classic move branded under some guilt assuming title to prey on people's ignorance to support it. while there may need to be limits on how sweet of deals that can be made the idea that you can "harmonize" taxes across such a diverse number of countries is unrealistic. Those large countries using this idea to protect their tax base aren't going to also turn around and bring up the poorer countries