Taxation

Companies generate growth, create jobs and foster prosperity for citizens. Paying taxes is only a fraction of their contribution to society and corporation tax is just a small part of the overall tax paid by businesses.

BusinessEurope supports fair tax competition and shares the objective of fighting fraud and evasion. Governments and businesses must work together to ensure that international tax agreements remain fit for purpose as globalisation evolves. International rules on corporation tax must be clear, transparent, objective and predictable. 

BusinessEurope and its members are actively engaging at the EU level through the Platform for Tax Good Governance, the VAT Expert Group and the VAT Forum. At the international level we are actively engaged in the OECD/G20 work on base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS). BEPS should be seen as an opportunity to improve the architecture of international taxation in the era of globalisation and therefore promote open markets and investment across borders.

Facts and figures

  • In 2017, businesses paid nearly EUR 2 trillions of taxes in the EU, through corporate tax, social security contributions, property, resource, energy, environmental and other taxes. In addition to paying taxes, enterprises help tax systems to run smoothly by collecting VAT and income tax from their employees.
  • The average tax wedge in the EU is almost one third higher than in Japan and the USA.
  • The EU share of worldwide foreign direct investment inflows has fallen by two fifths from 55% in 2007 to 31% in 2017.

Source: BusinessEurope Reform Barometer

Publications

Position papers Date
VAT in the Digital Age - BusinessEurope’s comments in response to the public consultation 03/04/2023
Business in Europe: Framework for Income Taxation (BEFIT) - BusinessEurope’s comments in response to the public consultation 25/01/2023
Debt-equity bias reduction allowance (DEBRA) - a BusinessEurope position paper 13/10/2022
New EU system for the avoidance of double taxation and prevention of tax abuse in the field of withholding taxes - BusinessEurope reply to the public consultation 24/06/2022
Unshell - Laying down rules to prevent the misuse of shell entities for tax purposes - a BusinessEurope position paper 12/05/2022
VAT in the digital age – BusinessEurope reply to the public consultation 03/05/2022
Directive on ensuring a minimum level of taxation for multinational groups within the European Union (‘Pillar Two’) - a BusinessEurope position paper 02/02/2022
Debt-Equity Bias Reduction Allowance (DEBRA) - BusinessEurope reply to the public consultation 06/10/2021
Cross-border resolution of tax disputes for SMEs: a European framework - BusinessEurope reply to the European Commission survey 07/09/2021
Fighting the use of shell entities and arrangements for tax purposes - BusinessEurope's reply to the public consultation 24/08/2021
Improving the situation of EU citizens as taxpayers for indirect tax - BusinessEurope reply to the public consultation 01/06/2021
Review of VAT rules for financial and insurance services - BusinessEurope reply to the public consultation 21/04/2021
EU digital levy - BusinessEurope reply to the public consultation 15/03/2021
OECD reports on the Pillar 1 and Pillar 2 blueprints - BusinessEurope's reply to the public consultation 09/12/2020
Revision of the energy taxation directive - BusinessEurope's reply to the public consultation 13/10/2020
Special VAT scheme for travel agents and tour operators - BusinessEurope's reply to the public consultation 09/09/2020
Strengthen the Exchange of Information Framework in the Field of Taxation - BusinessEurope's reply to the public consultation 23/03/2020
Comments on the OECD Public Consultation on the Global Anti-Base Erosion Proposal (GloBE) under Pillar 2 02/12/2019
Proposal for a unified approach under OECD Pillar 1 - BusinessEurope’s reply to the public consultation 08/11/2019
Introducing certain requirements for payment service providers - BusinessEurope position paper on the European Commission directive 03/06/2019
Addressing the tax challenges of the digitalisation of the economy - BusinessEurope response to the OECD public consultation 06/03/2019
Definitive VAT system for cross-border trade 14/12/2018
Taxation of the digital economy - a BusinessEurope position paper 13/07/2018
Evaluation of the EU framework for taxation of energy products and electricity - BusinessEurope's reply to the public consultation 04/06/2018
Proposed amendment to VAT treatment of SMEs 20/03/2018
Fair taxation of the digital economy - BusinessEurope's reply to the public consultation 21/12/2017
Generalised reverse charge mechanism - a BusinessEurope position paper 28/03/2017
Modernising VAT for cross-border e-commerce - a BusinessEurope position paper 28/03/2017
Special scheme for small enterprises under the VAT directive - BusinessEurope's reply to the public consultation 20/03/2017
Definitive VAT system for business-to-business (B2B) intra-EU transactions on goods - BusinessEurope's reply to the public consultation 20/03/2017
Double taxation dispute resolution mechanism - a BusinessEurope position paper 22/02/2017
Common corporate tax base (CCTB) and common consolidated corporate tax base (CCCTB) - a BusinessEurope position paper 22/02/2017
Disincentives for advisors and intermediaries for potentially aggressive tax planning schemes - BusinessEurope's reply to the open public consultation 15/02/2017
VAT Action Plan - a BusinessEurope position paper 09/11/2016
Public country-by-country reporting - a BusinessEurope position paper 06/07/2016
BusinessEurope position on the Public Discussion Draft on BEPS Action 15: Development of a Multilateral Instrument to Implement the Tax treaty related BEPS Measures 30/06/2016
Consultation on improving double taxation dispute resolution mechanisms - BusinessEurope reply and comments 09/05/2016
BusinessEurope position on the anti-tax avoidance package 07/03/2016
Re-launch of the common consolidated corporate tax base - BusinessEurope reply to the public consultation 07/01/2016
Tax transparency: tax rulings are essential for companies to invest in Europe 15/10/2015
BusinessEurope supplementary response to the consultation on further corporate tax transparency 09/09/2015
Review of existing VAT legislation on public bodies and tax exemptions in the public interest - a BusinessEurope position paper 24/04/2014
Public letters Date
Component Taxation in the Energy Tax Directive recast - Letter from Markus J. Beyrer to Elizabeth Svantesson, Minister for Finance of Sweden 01/03/2023
Global minimum tax - EU's Pillar Two Directive - Letter from Markus J. Beyrer to Zbynĕk Stanjura 28/11/2022
Proposal for Securing the Activity Framework of Enablers (SAFE) - Letter from Markus J. Beyrer to Gerassimos Thomas, Director General DG TAXUD 27/10/2022
Extraordinary tax measures - Letter from Markus J. Beyrer to Zbynĕk Stanjura 31/08/2022
The carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) and minimum corporate tax - Letter from Markus J. Beyrer to Bruno Lemaire ahead of the Council of Economic and Finance Ministers meeting on 15 March 2022 10/03/2022
EU implementation of OECD corporate tax reforms - Letter from Markus J. Beyrer to Paolo Gentiloni 30/11/2021
European Commission proposal for a digital levy - Letter to Ursula Von der Leyen, President of the European Commission 07/07/2021
Interinstitutional negotiations on public country-by-country reporting (Public CbCR) - Letter from Markus J. Beyrer 23/03/2021
Interest limitation rule - Letter from Markus J. Beyrer to European Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni 12/06/2020
Directive on administrative cooperation (DAC6) - Letter from Markus J. Beyrer to EU Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni 27/04/2020
Explanatory notes on VAT quick fixes - Letter from James Watson to Maria Elena Scoppio 07/10/2019
VAT Treatment of Vouchers - Letter from James Watson to Maria Teresa Fabregas-Fernandez, Director of Indirect Taxation and Tax Administration, Directorate-General: Taxation and Customs Union 16/05/2019
Dispute resolution and avoidance mechanisms - Letter from James Watson to Martin Kreienbaum, Chair of the OECD Committee on Fiscal Affairs 13/12/2018
Digital taxation - Letter from Markus J. Beyrer to President of the ECOFIN-Council Hartwig Löger 30/11/2018
Digital taxation - Letter from Markus J. Beyrer to European Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis 04/12/2017
BEPS Action 7: additional guidance on the attribution of profits to permanent establishments - BusinessEurope position on the public discussion draft 06/11/2017
BEPS Action 10: revised guidance on profit splits - BusinessEurope position on the public discussion draft 06/11/2017
Public country-by-country reporting - Letter from Markus J. Beyrer to Roberto Gualtieri, Chair of the EP ECON Committee 30/03/2017
Letter from Markus J. Beyrer, BusinessEurope's Director General, to Mr Jacob J. Lew Secretary of the US Treasury 06/07/2016
General reverse charge mechanism - Letter from James Watson to the Luxembourg Presidency 18/11/2015
The financial transaction tax and its impact on investment and growth - Joint letter to Pierre Gramegna, Minister of Finance of Luxembourg 06/11/2015
Tax transparency: tax rulings are essential for companies to invest in Europe - Letter from Markus J. Beyrer to Alain Lamassoure 15/10/2015
BusinessEurope supplementary response to the consultation on further corporate tax transparency - Letter from Markus J. Beyrer to Lord Jonathan Hill 09/09/2015
BusinessEurope comments on the OECD revised discussion draft on BEPS "Action 8: hard-to-value intangibles" 4 June-18 June 2015 18/06/2015
BusinessEurope comments on the OECD revised discussion draft on BEPS "Action 6: prevent Treaty absue" 22 May-17 June 2015 17/06/2015
Income tax code in the Hellenic Republic - Letter from Markus J. Beyrer to Yianis Varoufakis, Greek Minister of Finance 15/06/2015
BusinessEurope comments on the OECD revised discussion draft on BEPS "Action 7: preventing the artificial avoidance of PE status" 15 May-12 June 2015 11/06/2015
BusinessEurope comments on the OECD public discussion draft on BEPS "Action point 11: improving the analysis of BEPS" 16 April-8 May 2015 08/05/2015
BusinessEurope comments on the OECD public discussion draft on BEPS "Action point 12: mandatory disclosure rules" 31 March-30 April 2015 30/04/2015
BusinessEurope comments on the OECD public discussion draft on BEPS "Action 3: strengthening CFC rules" 3 April-1 May 2015 29/04/2015
Electronic road freight control system (EKAER) in Hungary: examples - Letter from James Watson to DG TAXUD 16/04/2015
BusinessEurope comments on the OECD public discussion draft "Chapter I of the transfer pricing guidelines (including risk recharacterisation, and special measures)" 1 December 2014-6 February 2015 06/02/2015
BusinessEurope comments on the OECD public discussion draft on the use of profit splits in the context of global value chains 16 December 2014-6 February 2015 06/02/2015
BusinessEurope comments on the OECD public discussion draft on BEPS "Transfer pricing aspects of cross-border commodity transactions" 16 December 2014-6 February 2015 06/02/2015
BusinessEurope comments on the OECD public discussion draft on BEPS "Release of a discussion fraft on Action 4 (interest deductions and other financial payments)" - 19 December 2014-6 February 2015 06/02/2015
The Financial Transaction Tax and its impact on investment and growth - Letter from Markus J. Beyrer to Janis Reirs, Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Latvia 23/01/2015
BusinessEurope comments on the OECD public discussion draft on BEPS "Make dispute resolution mechanisms more effective" 18 December 2014-16 January 2015 16/01/2015
BusinessEurope comments on the OECD public discussion draft on BEPS "Action 10: proposed modifications to chapter VII of the transfer pricing guidelines relating to low value-adding intra-group services" 3 November 2014-14 January 2015 13/01/2015
BusinessEurope comments on the OECD public discussion draft on BEPS "Action 7: preventing the artificial avoidance of PE status" 31 October 2014-9 January 2015 09/01/2015
BusinessEurope comments on the OECD public discussion draft "Follow-up work on BEPS action 6: preventing treaty abuse" 21 November 2014-9 January 2015 08/01/2015
BusinessEurope comments on the OECD public discussion draft "BEPS Action 2: neutralise the effects of hybrid mismatch arrangements" 02/05/2014
Financial transaction tax - Letter from Markus J. Beyrer to Ioannis Stournaras, Greek Minister for Finance 30/04/2014
BusinessEurope comments on the OECD public discussion draft "BEPS Action 1: address the tax challenges of the digital economy" 10/04/2014
BusinessEurope comments on OECD discussion draft "BEPS Action 6: preventing the granting of treaty benefits in inappropriate circumstances" 09/04/2014
Revision of the parent-subsidiary directive - Letter from Markus J. Beyrer to Ioannis Stoumaras in advance of the ECFIN Council meeting on 11 March 2014 25/02/2014
EU VAT web portal - Letter from James Watson to Heinz Zourek 24/02/2014
BusinessEurope comments on the OECD discussion draft on transfer pricing documentation and country-by-country reporting 23/02/2014
Press releases Date
EU own resources plans must not add burden on business 22/12/2021
Corporate tax should support growth and investment 18/05/2021
Digital taxation should be based on OECD agreement 21/03/2018
EU Commission VAT proposals can lead to less complexity, less fragmentation, less tax fraud and evasion 04/10/2017
Tax systems must support the take-up of digital technologies in Europe 21/09/2017
Sailing the wind of economic improvements to further strengthen Europe 13/09/2017
EU Commission’s CCCTB proposals need careful business consideration 25/10/2016
Country-by-country reporting risks damaging EU investment 12/04/2016
EU business supports Commission plan to modernise VAT 07/04/2016
EU should fight tax fraud and evasion, but not as lone front-runner 26/01/2016
Tax rulings are essential to encourage companies to invest in Europe 18/03/2015
EU national budgets: flexibility and enforcement must go hand in hand - a BusinessEurope press release 14/01/2015
Reports and studies Date
Towards a simplified, sustainable and robust VAT system 04/12/2019

Contact

James Watson

Director
Tel:
+32 2 237 65 15

Mariella Caruana

Adviser
Tel:
+32 2 237 65 21
Last updated: 4 December 2019