Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-10-25-Speech-2-642-000"
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"en.20111025.32.2-642-000"2
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"Madam President, I am aware of the privilege and I will make the greatest possible effort. I just need to change my tone briefly, because I want to ask a question.
Firstly, I am presenting this on behalf of our Chair, Sharon Bowles. This is a question which has been raised on my initiative and formulated on the basis of a consensus among the members of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs. It is an oral question in accordance with Article 116. It concerns the recently signed tax agreements between Switzerland, on the one hand, and Germany and the United Kingdom, on the other, and the issue of whether they are compatible with the European Savings Tax Directive.
These tax agreements have triggered a major debate. In Germany, it seems doubtful that there will be a majority in favour in the second chamber, the
. In the United Kingdom, the Tax Justice Network has, in the meantime, published a list of 10 ways of circumventing the agreement. Both agreements have now been signed but not yet ratified.
The questions which we are asking here relate to the fact that these agreements provide for the payment to Switzerland of a withholding tax on the earnings on capital by private individuals. On the one hand, these payments are made retrospectively for profits which were not taxed in the past and, on the other, in relation to future earnings on capital. The point of all of this is that in return, Swiss banking secrecy will be maintained. Therefore, Switzerland will help to collect the across-the-board withholding tax at a rate of 26% or 48% on the basis of the respective agreements. Of course, this will result in inheritance taxes and capital taxes not being properly recorded. At the same time, other states are in negotiations about similar agreements or are considering introducing them.
The questions posed by our committee are as follows. The first question concerns compatibility with the Savings Tax Directive, in relation to the tax rate. From July of this year onwards, the Savings Tax Directive sets the tax rate at 35% for countries which do not take part in the automatic exchanges of information. In contrast, the rate is set at 26.375% in the agreement between Germany and Switzerland. Does that represent a breach of the Savings Tax Directive? The agreement with Germany attempts to compensate for this difference by allowing for tax credits under Article 20 of the agreement, while the United Kingdom provides for a higher withholding tax rate of 48%. Is that sufficient from the Commission’s perspective, particularly as far as the comparison is concerned, to compensate for the difference between each of the agreements and the Savings Tax Directive?
Our second question concerns the impact that these agreements will have on the negotiations concerning the revision of the Savings Tax Directive in the Council and also outside. What approach do these bilateral agreements take to the fact that we are planning to introduce greater tax coordination and harmonisation in the EU, including in the Euro Plus Pact? Then there is the question of whether these bilateral agreements are an obstacle to the development of the Savings Tax Directive which is currently being negotiated in the Council.
Therefore, the question we want to ask is: how do you, Mr Šemeta, and how does the Commission plan to defend the provisions of the Savings Tax Directive and how do you intend to make practical progress in the revision process?
Another series of questions relates to the issue of whether the Member States have the authority to enter into bilateral agreements in this area with third countries, in the light of the negotiations defined in the Savings Tax Directive which are already under way. Does the Commission plan to introduce prior checks in this area? Were you included in the current negotiations? Were you consulted and do you want to retain the right to be consulted in future?
Finally, we would like to know how the regulations which make up these bilateral agreements relate to Article 26 of the OECD Model Convention for double taxation agreements. What is the situation here? How does that affect the development of the automatic exchange of information which we all want within the EU? I look forward to hearing your answers, Mr Šemeta."@en1
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