Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-02-08-Speech-1-115"
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"en.20100208.14.1-115"2
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"Mr President, taxation is absolutely vital for the running of countries – I think most citizens would agree with that. Nevertheless, many citizens do not welcome the paying of taxes with open arms and with a smile. This goes back to the time of our Lord, when he pointed out that one of the most despised species in his time was the tax collector, who was seen as a villain.
I am not sure if their status has gone up a whole pile in the meantime. Now they are regarded as Revenue Commissioners, but they probably would not win any popularity contests.
Nevertheless, side by side with that is the fact that, historically, those who evaded tax were sometimes seen as almost heroes, outfoxing the government. Now, thankfully, that too is changing, but at the same time, taxation evasion is rife throughout the country and throughout the world. Even in my own country, in the 1980s and 1990s, the banks themselves were providing offshore addresses for people for the purpose of evading tax. When that was found out, then, of course, the individual had to pay.
Now, what we need to do in the future is to ensure that tax evasion is cut down. The OECD estimates that 2.5% of global GDP is lost through tax evasion. Cigarette smuggling is a case in point, where cigarettes have moved from low-tax to high-tax economies, causing terrible damage to health and, of course, also to finances.
At the same time, the EU is limited by what it can do, because the Lisbon Treaty does not give it great competences in the area of tax. That came up in the Lisbon Treaty in the guarantees given to Ireland.
For that reason, there can be no common consolidated corporate tax base, and the principle of fair tax competition must remain. So what we have to do is, by collaboration, cooperation, conviction and persuasion, try and get things moving ahead – but we cannot do it by compulsion."@en1
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