Irish leader Enda Kenny signed up to the EU’s fiscal compact on tighter budgetary controls last week, pending ratification by a referendum, but this should not be taken as a sign the country would agree to EU harmonisation over corporate tax rates.
It is no secret that the Greek tax authorities are not exactly up to scratch. Inefficient tax collection and a lack of knowledge in specialist areas such as transfer pricing are just two of the problems preventing the government raising the tax revenue it so badly needs.
With the Greek economy under extreme strain and the government being pressurised to impose strict fiscal measures in return for a €130 billion ($173.4 billion) IMF bailout, the country is being driven towards tax reform at high speed.
Multinationals applying Canadian tax treaties to reduce withholding tax on royalty payments before paying funds to entities in non-treaty countries were boosted by a favourable Canadian Tax Court ruling last week.
French companies could benefit from a lower corporate tax rate and a reduced administrative burden if the green paper on business tax convergence between France and Germany comes to fruition.
