EU urges states to co-ordinate on anti-tax abuse laws

EU MEMBER states are being asked to review their anti-abuse rules in the direct tax area, in an effort to ensure it does not conflict with internal market principles and is not being used to allow unfair avoidance of tax.

The European Commission said decisions by the European Court of Justice, including the Cadbury-Schweppes case that involved Ireland and Britain made a review necessary and they hoped it could lead to greater co-ordination between member states.

Tax partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers, Anne Fitzgerald, said this was good news for Ireland because the commission is recognising companies need to operate across borders and the rules of some EU member states can be prohibitive.