Insights into emerging EU direct tax law
EU business taxation policy has developed at pace in recent years, and continues to evolve, in response to initiatives by the OECD and EU to reform international tax systems.
The EU seeks to build robust, efficient and fair tax frameworks that sustain economic growth across all Member States. The EU aims to tackle aggressive tax avoidance, harmonise taxation across Member States and reduce the administrative burden on Multinational Entities and tax jurisdictions. The outcome is a raft of EU tax initiatives and tax policy proposals.
At Grant Thornton, our team of International Tax Specialists will help guide your organisation through the evolving EU tax regulations whilst providing solutions to meet your individual business needs.
Read our fifth review of the EU Direct Tax Initiatives: helping you keep up to date with what is in the pipeline and how it may impact your business.
ViDA and Budget 2026: Ireland’s VAT digital compliance roadmap.
Sasha Kerins, International Tax Partner at Grant Thornton Ireland, joins Monique Pisters, Head of Tax at Grant Thornton Netherlands, for a timely discussion on the evolving EU tax agenda.
Discover how US tax reforms and EU developments could reshape trade, taxation and strategy for Irish and European businesses.
Navigate the changes in EU tax regulations with BEFIT and Transfer Pricing proposals, aiming for harmonisation, fair taxation, and reduced compliance burdens.
DAC8 enters into force on 13 November 2023 and for the most part will come into effect for all EU Member States from 1 January 2026. Read the key measures introduced to enhance tax compliance and improve transparency.
The European Commission (EC) are committed to introducing a common corporate income tax system across the EU. The previous iterations - the Common (Consolidated) Corporate Tax base (CCCTB) 2011 and Common Corporate Tax Base (CCTB) are now withdrawn and replaced with the BEFIT Proposal. It remains to be seen if BEFIT will achieve the unanimous support required from Member States.
The European Commission has been revising the Securing Activity Framework of Enablers (SAFE) Directive, with intentions to implement the Directive in due course. The proposed policy carries a number of implications for tax intermediaries, which the Commission refers to as “enablers”.
On 22nd March 2021, the EU Council introduced "DAC7”, or the 7th Directive (2011/16/EU), on Administrative Cooperation, which enables EU Member States to address some of the perceived negative aspects of the digital economy, by extending the scope of existing exchange of information provisions between Member States, and thus ensuring greater transparency on cross border transactions.
The European Parliament has published its approval of the European Commission’s draft proposal for Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive III (ATAD III) with recommended amendments.
The European Commission held a public consultation in respect of a new proposed corporate tax system referred to as Business in Europe: Framework for Income Taxation (“BEFIT”). According to the Commission, the initiative aims to introduce a single corporate tax rulebook for the EU, based on a common tax base and allocation of taxable profits to Member States based on a pre-defined formula. Once allocated, the taxable profits would be subject to the corporate income tax rates of the relevant Member States.
In December 2021, the European Commission (EC) published its proposal for Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive III (ATAD III) which aims to discourage the misuse of shell companies within the EU.
