Make an end to ready-made tax avoidance - Main contents

“The sale of on line ready-made tax avoidance packages should be forbidden throughout the European Union”, says MEP Paul Tang in Trouw today.

On different websites, companies and private individuals can buy shares of an enterprise that is situated in a tax paradise. The advertisements remind of holiday offers. For example, many of the offers have the name of an exotic destination. The ‘Caribbean Package’ gives the buyer for more or less 2500 euros a company in Belize with a corresponding bank account to store its money.

“Right now, we are unable to rise up against these advertisements, while the constructions that are offered are actually punishable in several cases. That’s why we have to end this. Now, with only the click of a mouse, people can park their money out of sight of tax authorities, which encourages fraud.”

The numerous revelations about tax paradises show how advisers keep on inventing shadowy constructions to avoid tax. Meanwhile, the industry that facilitates tax avoidance is increasing, without anyone pulling the brakes.

“It is also important to stop the advisers who make tax avoidance possible. The European Commission has done some proposals, but these didn’t lead to anything yet. When it comes to tax avoidance, the legislator is always one step behind. For every closed short cut, tax advisers create two new possibilities. This means we must intervene more forcefully.”

Paul Tang wants to know from the European Commission what its plans are to close these web shops. Furthermore, he proposes to come up with a mandatory directive for tax advisers, which makes it obligatory for advisers to report new constructions in advance to the tax authorities.