Tax integration within the European Union can take place in many ways. In this book, various instruments which the Member States and the European Union have available to attain tax integration are discussed and their mutual relationship is studied. The book includes a general report drafted by the editor and is divided into seven parts focusing on (i) Sources of EU law for integration in direct and indirect taxation, (ii) Soft law: Solution or disillusion? Limits?, (iii) Infringement procedures: Another way to move things further?, (iv) Comitology, (v) Relationship between primary and secondary EU law, (vi) VAT Directive tested against primary law, and (vii) Direct tax directives tested against primary law. The book is the outcome of the fourth annual conference of the GREIT (Group for Research on European and International Taxation).
The European Union (EU) Merger Directive removes certain tax disadvantages encountered by companies and their shareholders in the course of a restructuring operation. However, in spite of amendments and European Court of Justice's (ECJ) interpretations of its provisions, various shortcomings remain. This thoroughgoing analysis, broader and deeper than any prior work on the subject, addresses all the Directive's subtopics methodically, following the paragraphs of Articles 1-15 in their logical succession. The author analyses the points in which the Merger Directive falls short of attaining its stated objective, and he also examines how these shortcomings could be scaled. To do so, he tests the Merger Directive against its own objective, primary EU law (the fundamental freedoms and the unwritten general principles of EU law) and non-discrimination provisions in relevant treaties. Each of the following questions is addressed and responded to in depth: – Which entities have access to the Merger Directive and which entities should have access to it? – Which operations are covered by the Merger Directive and which operations should be covered? – Which tax disadvantages to cross-border restructuring operations does the Merger Directive aim to remove, which tax disadvantages have been actually removed, which tax disadvantages remain, and how should the Merger Directive be amended to remove the remaining tax disadvantages? – How tax avoidance should be combated under Article 15(1)(a) of the Merger Directive, which possible types of tax avoidance can be identi¬fied, and how the Merger Directive should be amended? – Which cases of double taxation does a taxpayer engaging in cross-border restructuring operations potentially encounter, and how they can be taken away by the Merger Directive? The key shortcomings that are identifi¬ed are: the Merger Directive’s objective is not stated precisely; minimum harmonisation does not lead to a common tax system; exhaustive lists are used as legislative technique; the Merger Directive does not add much to the outcomes reached through negative harmonisation; and the de¬finitions of qualifying operations are not fully aligned with corporate law. Chapter 6 contains a deeply informed and viable proposal for the amendment of the Merger Directive. This is the fi¬rst treatment not only to evaluate the Directive's effi¬cacy in detail but also to offer real solutions to its shortcomings. It will be welcomed by policymakers, judges, practitioners and academics, and the recommendations it contains are sure to affect ongoing amendments and jurisprudence on the Merger Directive.
This book analyzes the issue of European fiscal State aid in order to provide insights into the related evolution prospects and legal problems. State aid has assumed a central position in the field of taxation, becoming the most important instrument of European legal integration, especially in the area of direct taxes. This is the result of major regulatory and interpretative development, which has altered the initial European and national balances in the face of globalization and the problems of the new economy. In this context, the scope and objectives of State aid have progressively broadened, encompassing a significant level of both positive and negative integration of European national tax systems.
The principle of territoriality and the fundamental freedoms The tension between the fundamental freedoms and the sovereignty of the Member States is omnipresent in the CJEU ́s case law on direct taxation. A significant number of cases concerned one of the core principles in national tax laws: the principle of territoriality. Although this principle is continuously mentioned in cases concerning the compatibility of direct tax measures with the fundamental freedoms, the case law seems to provoke more questions than answers. This book provides guidance on the meaning of territoriality in the CJEU ́s case law on direct taxation as well as on the role which this principle plays in the compatibility of domestic direct tax measures with the fundamental freedoms. During a critical and dogmatically oriented journey through the CJEU ́s case law, the reader can enjoy a comprehensive analysis, containing references to more than 300 cases. Without a doubt, this timeless reflection of the tension between the principle of territoriality and the fundamental freedoms is not only interesting from a dogmatic perspective, but also from a tax policy one.
The book explores the hybrid nature of enhanced cooperation law between the law of single Member States and secondary EU law. Furthermore, it identifies the limits to and challenges of enhanced cooperation law-making, and explains how State aid law provisions should be applied to enhanced cooperation laws. The book also develops a sophisticated approach to the limits non-participating Member States face in ensuring that their actions do not impede the implementation of enhanced cooperation between the participating Member States.
The seventh edition of this two-volume set brings a comprehensive and systematic survey of European Tax Law up to January 2018. It provides a state of the art clarification and analysis of the implications of the EU Treaties and secondary EU law for national and bilateral tax law. From the consequences of the EU free movement rights - to the soft law meant to put a halt to harmful tax competition. The seventh edition of European Tax Law offers a cutting-edge analysis of the field surrounding tax law across Europe. It puts forward a thought-provoking discussion of the current EU tax rules, as well as of the EU Court’s case law in tax matters. Previous editions were highly regarded as a staple overview of EU tax law among EU tax law practitioners, policymakers, the judiciary and academics alike. With its updated legislation and case-law up to January 2018, this new edition maintains its unparalleled depth and clarity as the go-to reference book in the field. This first volume of the abridged student edition of ‘European Tax Law’ covers: 1. The consequences of the EU free movement rights, the EU State aid prohibition, the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the general principles of EU law for national tax law, tax treaties, national (tax) procedure, State liability and relations with third States, as they appear from the case law of the Court of justice of the EU 2. Secondary EU law in force and proposed on direct taxes: the Parent-Subsidiary Directive, the Tax Merger Directive, the Interest and Royalties Directive, cross-border tax dispute settlement instruments, the Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive and the C(C)CTB proposal 3. The exchange of information and other administrative assistance in the assessment and recovery of taxes between the EU Member States 4. Soft Law on Harmful Tax Competition 5. Procedural matters and the extent of judicial protection The upcoming second volume of this set will cover harmonization of indirect taxation, energy taxation and capital duty, as well as administrative cooperation in the field of indirect taxation.
A breadth of new digital platforms has dramatically expanded the range of possibilities for exchanging anything required by business or personal needs from accommodation to rides. In the virtual marketplaces shaped and ruled by these novel matchmakers, rather than by a single centralized entity, value is created through the granular interaction of many dispersed individuals. By allowing instantaneous and smooth interaction among millions of individuals, platforms have indeed pushed the digital frontier farther and farther, so as to include within it even services once not capable of direct delivery from a remote location such as accommodation and passenger transport. Legal disruption is also underway with foundational dichotomous categories, such as those between suppliers and customers, business and private spheres, employees and self-employed, no longer viable as organizational legal structures. This is the essential background of the first book to relate what is synthetically captured under the umbrella definition of ‘sharing economy’ to key features at the core of European Value Added Tax (EU VAT) and to look at the feasibility of a reformed EU VAT system capable of addressing the main challenges posed by these new models of production, distribution and consumption of goods and services. Specifically, the study analyses five legal propositions underpinning the current EU VAT system as the following: taxable persons; taxable transactions; composite supplies; place of supply rules; and liability regimes for collection and remittance of VAT. Exploration of these five legal propositions is meant to assess the practical feasibility of shoehorning the main sharing economy business models – notably, those available in the accommodation and passenger transport sectors – into the framework of existing EU VAT provisions. The author further draws on the normative standards of equality, neutrality, simplicity, flexibility and proportionality to test the ‘reflexes’ of the current EU VAT system in the sharing economy domain. Opportunities for reform of the current EU VAT system are in turn evaluated with each chapter including cogent proposals in the form of incremental and targeted amendments to the current EU VAT provisions. As the first comprehensive analysis of the treatment of the sharing economy for VAT purposes, the book provides not only a theoretical framework for future studies in the tax field but also indispensable practical guidance for VAT specialists confronting daily with the many challenges ushered in by the sharing economy. Moreover, the various solutions and recommendations advanced in the book offer valuable insights to international and national policymakers dealing with similar issues under other VAT systems.
"This book is the result of a research project entitled 'Horizontal Tax Coordination within the EU and within States' that was conducted by the Institute for Austrian and International Tax Law at WU (Vienna University of Economics and Business). The aim of this project was to examine the role court judgments have played in the framework of tax harmonization in federal states and how decisive this impact was. In this respect the participants took also a closer look at ECJ case law and how it may be compared to other jurisdictions where federal fiscal structures exist, such as the United States, Switzerland, Belgium, Spain, Austria, Russia, Mexico, Brazil, India and Australia. The judgments of the various courts were contrasted with each other in order to learn more about the impact on harmonization in the field of tax law. From these findings conclusions for the purpose of EU tax policy were drawn."--Back cover.
Offering a comprehensive exploration of EU taxation law, this engaging Research Handbook investigates the associated legal principles in the context of both direct and indirect taxation. The important issues and debates arising from these general principles are expertly unpicked, with leading scholars examining the status quo as well as setting out a clear agenda for future research.
