Uit een nieuw rapport van onderzoeksorganisatie SOMO blijkt dat Griekenland miljoenen aan belastinginkomsten misloopt door Nederlandse brievenbusconstructies. GroenLinks wil dat Nederland deze constructies beëindigd. Het is onverdedigbaar dat Griekenland van eurolanden als Nederland enerzijds aan strenge begrotingseisen moet voldoen, maar anderzijds belastinginkomsten misloopt door belastingontwijking via die landen.
GroenLinks-Europarlementariër Bas Eickhout wil dat de Raad van Ministers dit probleem bij Nederland aan de orde stelt en dat de Europese Commissie een onderzoek opent naar de belastingafspraken van Nederland met bedrijven die actief zijn in Griekenland. Eickhout stelde daarover schriftelijke vragen, die diende hij in samen met de Franse Groene Europarlementariër Eva Joly, die tevens lid is van de bijzondere commissie Belastingontwijking in het Europees Parlement en van de Independent Commission for the Reform of International Corporate Taxation (ICRICT).
Vragen aan de Europese Commissie
According to the study Fool's Gold by SOMO, Greece lost out on € 1.7 million in corporate income tax resulting from interest payments in 2012 and 2013 alone, because of tax arrangements of The Netherlands with the Canadian mining company Eldorado Gold.
1. Does the Council consider the tax arrangements of the Dutch tax authorities with Eldorado problematic, in particular in the light of the urgent need for Greece to increase its tax revenues?
2. Is the Commission willing to launch an in-depth investigation to check whether decisions by the Dutch tax authorities with regard to the corporate income tax to be paid by Eldorado comply with the EU rules on state aid? If not, why not?
In a reaction to the SOMO-report, the Dutch finance ministry claims that fiscal arrangements with multinationals in Greece are the result of the directive on taxation applicable to interest payments and that The Netherlands "will cooperate to combat abuse" of this directive in case Greece suspects abuse (NRC Handelsblad 30-03-2015 "Wat moet een Griekse goudmijn op de Zuidas?").
3. Will the Commission propose a revision of Directive 2003/49/EC with the purpose to rule out any future tax arrangements of Member States such as the one of Eldorado in The Netherlands? If not, why not? If yes, when?
Vragen aan de Raad van Ministers
According to the study Fool's Gold by SOMO, Greece lost out on € 1.7 million in corporate income tax resulting from interest payments in 2012 and 2013 alone, because of tax arrangements of The Netherlands with the Canadian mining company Eldorado Gold.
1. Does the Council consider the tax arrangements of the Dutch tax authorities with Eldorado problematic, in particular in the light of the urgent need for Greece to increase its tax revenues?
2. Will the Council ask the Netherlands to review its tax arrangements with Eldorado in order to support tax compliance and tax revenue in Greece?
In a reaction to the SOMO-report, the Dutch finance ministry claims that fiscal arrangements with multinationals in Greece are the result of the directive on taxation applicable to interest payments and that The Netherlands "will cooperate to combat abuse" of this directive in case Greece suspects abuse (NRC Handelsblad 30-03-2015 "Wat moet een Griekse goudmijn op de Zuidas?").
3. Does the Council deem necessary a revision of Directive 2003/49/EC with the purpose to rule out any future tax arrangements of Member States such as the one of Eldorado in The Netherlands? If not, why not?