EU-wide common corporate tax base still to be drafted

FINANCIAL services is now more likely to be included in plans for an EU-wide common base for calculating corporation tax, given the current economic crisis, according to European Commission sources.

Taxation Commissioner Laszlo Kovacs said he intends to finalise the CCCTB (common consolidated corporate tax base) draft before he leaves office later this year, but acknowledges that this will be too late for the current European Parliament to consider it. The draft was delayed late last year and a new impact study is being carried out specifically to determine whether financial services should be included in the proposal.

“Given the current climate, it is more likely that it will be included from the beginning,” said a Commission official.