Taxation in the EU Member States- The tax-to-GDP ratio in 2015 continued to vary by 1 to 2 across the EU Member States- Taxes on production and imports main category in the EU // Brussels, 25 November 2016

S. whereas the same study estimates corporate income tax efficiency to be 75 %, although the study also confirms that this does not represent the amounts that could be expected to be recovered by tax authorities, because a certain percentage of those sums would be excessively expensive or technically difficult to collect; whereas according to the study, if a complete solution to the problem of BEPS were available and implementable across the Union, the estimated positive impact on tax revenues for Member State governments would be 0,2 % of total tax revenues;

20. Notes that research by the IMF covering 51 countries concludes that profit shifting between tax jurisdictions results in an average revenue loss of about 5 % of current corporate income tax revenue – but of almost 13 % in non-OECD countries; notes also that, according to the Commission, econometric evidence shows that FDI’s sensitivity to corporate taxation has increased over time; underlines the fact that, according to a study, an estimated EUR 1 trillion of potential tax revenue is lost each year through the combined effect of tax fraud, tax evasion, including the shadow economy, and tax avoidance in the EU , and that estimates point to yearly losses to national budgets of around EUR 50-70 billion as a result of tax avoidance, but t ...[+++]hat these revenue losses across the EU could in reality amount to around EUR 160-190 billion if special tax arrangements, inefficiencies in collection and other such activities were taken into account ; whereas the UN Commission for Trade and Development has calculated that developing countries lose around USD 100 billion per year in revenues through tax avoidance by MNCs; stresses that these figures should be considered with caution and may underestimate the actual losses to national budgets, given the limited transparency and different accounting and conceptual frameworks around the globe, which affect the availability of comparable and meaningful data and the reliability of any estimate;

20. Notes that research by the IMF covering 51 countries concludes that profit shifting between tax jurisdictions results in an average revenue loss of about 5 % of current corporate income tax revenue – but of almost 13 % in non-OECD countries; notes also that, according to the Commission, econometric evidence shows that FDI’s sensitivity to corporate taxation has increased over time; underlines the fact that, according to a study, an estimated EUR 1 trillion of potential tax revenue is lost each year through the combined effect of tax fraud, tax evasion, including the shadow economy, and tax avoidance in the EU, and that estimates point to yearly losses to national budgets of around EUR 50-70 billion as a result of tax avoidance, but th ...[+++]at these revenue losses across the EU could in reality amount to around EUR 160-190 billion if special tax arrangements, inefficiencies in collection and other such activities were taken into account; whereas the UN Commission for Trade and Development has calculated that developing countries lose around USD 100 billion per year in revenues through tax avoidance by MNCs; stresses that these figures should be considered with caution and may underestimate the actual losses to national budgets, given the limited transparency and different accounting and conceptual frameworks around the globe, which affect the availability of comparable and meaningful data and the reliability of any estimate;

8. Notes that, according to the Commission , statutory corporate income tax rates in the EU fell by 12 percentage points, from 35 % to 23 %, between 1995 and 2014; stresses that this decrease in tax rates is accompanied by a broadening of the tax base to mitigate revenue losses and that the relatively stable revenue stemming from corporate taxation in the same timeframe can also be explained by a substantial ‘incorporation’ trend, i.e. a shift from certain legal forms of doing business, such as (sole) proprietorship, to corporation status, which results in a similar shift from a personal to a corporate tax base;

8. Notes that, according to the Commission, statutory corporate income tax rates in the EU fell by 12 percentage points, from 35 % to 23 %, between 1995 and 2014; stresses that this decrease in tax rates is accompanied by a broadening of the tax base to mitigate revenue losses and that the relatively stable revenue stemming from corporate taxation in the same timeframe can also be explained by a substantial ‘incorporation’ trend, i.e. a shift from certain legal forms of doing business, such as (sole) proprietorship, to corporation status, which results in a similar shift from a personal to a corporate tax base;