Overview
European Parliament TAXE Committee Approves Report Regarding Tax Rulings:
In the wake of two European Commission decisions last week that favorable tax rulings issued by Luxembourg and the Netherlands constituted illegal state aid, the European Parliament’s committee on tax rulings and other measures similar in nature or effect (the TAXE committee) has voted to approve a draft report concerning tax rulings practices of EU member states. The report concludes that there are indications of “several cases” of rulings that constitute illegal state aid and that member states failed to abide by notification and exchange of tax information obligations with respect to such aid. Recommendations in the report include the adoption of comprehensive and automatic exchange of tax information that applies to all tax rulings (i.e., not just to cross-border rulings), a common consolidated corporate tax base, joint audits, a common framework for tax rulings at the EU level including public disclosure of rulings, and increased protections for whistleblowers. 1047 amendments to the draft report have been proposed and may still be taken up by the committee on November 16.