Study on structures of aggressive tax planning and indicators : final report

As a response to the increasing sophistication of tax planners in identifying and exploiting the legal arbitrage opportunities and the boundaries of acceptable tax planning, policymakers across OECD, G20 and EU countries have taken steps to ensure that taxation duly takes place where economic value is generated and where the economic activity is actually carried out. In this context, the European Commission sees a strong need to obtain increased knowledge of the tax laws and practices of Member States of the European Union, which may expose particular jurisdictions to aggressive tax planning (ATP). The present study was commissioned with the aim to: identify model ATP structures; identify ATP indicators which facilitate or allow ATP; review the corporate income tax systems of the EU Member States by means of the ATP indicators, in order to identify those tax rules and practices (or lack thereof) that result in Member States being vulnerable to ATP. This study was carried out by Ramboll and Corit Advisory with the support of a network of independent national tax experts. It reviews and assesses the corporate income tax systems of all EU Member States. It identifies weaknesses of the national tax systems in the EU and sets the ground for additional analysis and new policy initiatives.