To accompany the much needed fiscal consolidation exercise across the EU currently being put in place, ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) fully endorses the importance of better coordination of taxation matters at national, EU and international level

The global accountancy body supports in particular the priority given on promoting and broadening the scope of the automatic exchange of information between tax administrations at the EU and global levels. In that vein, we look forward to the forthcoming European Commission proposal - expected for June- to amend the Savings Taxation directive in order to extend, as from 2015, the total tax transparency requirement on member states to dividends, royalties and capital gains.

Chas Roy-Chowdhury, Head of Taxation at ACCA says: “There has probably never before been a time when so much political capital has been invested in this issue. Progress on automatic exchange of information in the area of taxation of savings would be a very significant step, given that the issue has been discussed for many years but unanimous agreement has been impossible so far. If the IT arrangements can be sorted, the automatic exchange system has the potential to work quite effectively”.

“ACCA also welcomes the call from EU leaders for quick agreement on the package of measures aiming to strengthen the fight against VAT fraud entailing the EU Directives on the quick reaction mechanism and on the reverse charge mechanisms. Similarly it would be useful, as a complementary measure, to strengthen the Code of Conduct on business taxation”, Chas Roy-Chowdhury adds.

On another note also addressed by EU leaders, John Davies, Head of Technical at ACCA points out: “The European Commission is right to pursue a co-ordinated approach to the regulation of financial crime. Tax offences are likely to constitute a significant element of money laundering activity in most countries, and it makes sense for offences in that area to come within the scope of the revised directive on money laundering. This will mean that regulated parties, such as accountants and banks, will be presented with a clear obligation to pass on to the authorities any knowledge or suspicion they have of tax evasion on the part of their clients. We also welcome the EU executive’s renewed commitment to the publication by companies of details of their beneficial ownership: mandatory disclosure by companies of this information will make it much easier for regulated parties to fulfil their responsibilities.”

“In a globalised world, it is not enough to confine our thinking to Europe. We also need to address the challenges of taxation in the digital economy.  We therefore look forward to the publication of the results of the OECD Initiative on base erosion and profit shifting, as we believe this should pave the way towards a fairer approach to taxation.

“It is vital that we find solutions to many of the long-standing technical elements of international tax law which have not kept pace with changes in technology and corporate mobility, and have led directly to many of the concerns about the accountability of multi-national companies. We cannot turn back the clock on how business is conducted but we can modernise the law to make sure that the principles of tax are properly applied in the changed circumstances. We therefore need meaningful improvement to solve the problems of the digital age. This will not be an easy task since there are likely to be winners and losers but the project is a crucial one”, Chas Roy-Chowdhury concludes.

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For more information, please contact:

Cecile Bonino

+32(0) 2 286 11 37 
Cecile.bonino@accaglobal.com

Notes to Editors

1. ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) is the global body for professional accountants. We aim to offer business-relevant, first-choice qualifications to people of application, ability and ambition around the world who seek a rewarding career in accountancy, finance and management.
2. We support our 154,000 members and 432,000 students in 170 countries, helping them to develop successful careers in accounting and business, with the skills required by employers. We work through a network of over 80 offices and centres and more than 8,400 Approved Employers worldwide, who provide high standards of employee learning and development. Through our public interest remit, we promote appropriate regulation of accounting and conduct relevant research to ensure accountancy continues to grow in reputation and influence.
3. Founded in 1904, ACCA has consistently held unique core values: opportunity, diversity, innovation, integrity and accountability. We believe that accountants bring value to economies in all stages of development and seek to develop capacity in the profession and encourage the adoption of global standards. Our values are aligned to the needs of employers in all sectors and we ensure that through our qualifications, we prepare accountants for business. We seek to open up the profession to people of all backgrounds and remove artificial barriers, innovating our qualifications and delivery to meet the diverse needs of trainee professionals and their employers.

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