In this respect, the Commission service has recalled that tax fraud is a form of deliberate evasion of tax which is generally punishable under criminal law, and tax evasion generally comprises illegal arrangements where liability to tax is hidden or ignored[11].

That reform included in particular the repeal of the former tax system and the imposition of three taxes applicable to all Gibraltar companies, namely a companies registration fee, a payroll tax and a business property occupation tax (‘BPOT’), with a cap on liability to payroll tax and BPOT of 15% of profits.

In August 2002, the United Kingdom notified the European Commission of Gibraltar’s proposed reform of corporate tax , That reform included in particular the repeal of the former tax system and the imposition of three taxes applicable to all Gibraltar companies, namely a registration fee, a payroll tax and a business property occupation tax, with a cap on liability to payroll tax and business property occupation tax of 15% of profits.

Article 4(1) and (2) of the Sixth Council Directive 77/388/EEC of 17 May 1977 on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to turnover taxes – Common system of value added tax: uniform basis of assessment (OJ 1977 L 145, p.1) provide that transactions that a taxable person carries out in the course of his economic activity are subject to tax.

The absence of a threshold in the Directive means that tax exposure can arise from a single transaction.

These proposals, which will have to take account of the need to modernize the existing provisions, will relate to: . determination of the physical scope of the tax, including the precise definition of taxable transactions (uniform definition of the supply of goods, the concept of the supply of services, the fact that the supplies are made for consideration, etc.); the precise determination of the territorial scope of the tax will be looked into in phase three; . definition of the concept of the taxable person for VAT purposes (which involves reviewing the VAT status of public bodies, the consequences of treatment as a non-taxable perso ...[+++]n, etc.); . determination of the taxable amount for taxable transactions; . exemptions: maintenance or abolition and, in any event, harmonization of exemptions, consequences for the right to deduct, etc.; . the right to deduct: conditions giving rise to and governing exercise of the right to deduct, procedures, harmonization of the non-deductibility of certain items of expenditure, deductible proportion (general proportion, actual application), i.e. the ratio of deductible transactions to non-deductible transactions (because exempt or outside the scope of the tax).