Multi-national companies must pay their fair share of taxes, the leader of the Conservative delegation at the European Parliament insisted today. Addressing the parliament, South West & Gibraltar MEP, Ashley Fox gave a cautious welcome to the European Commission’s new proposals to tackle aggressive tax avoidance, agreeing that plans for new rules on disclosure and requirements to provide annual information on sales and assets to tax authorities were necessary.
But he stressed that a wider approach was required. “The Commission is right when it asserts that Member States cannot tackle this problem alone,” said Mr Fox. “But I hope it also realises that the EU cannot tackle this problem alone either. It has to be dealt with at the international, rather than the European, level. “My fear is that there are those in the Commission and in this parliament who see this problem as another excuse for ‘more Europe’. By acting through the OECD we will ensure that Member States not only fulfil their obligations but also remain competitive in international markets.” “We must ensure that multi-national companies pay their fair share of taxes. The best way of achieving this is to keep tax rates low and tax codes simple.”
