Portugal admitted today to join the position of France, Spain, Italy, Germany and Holland to advance jointly, in the absence of consensus, for a minimum tax of 15% on the profits of large companies, although waiting for a regression of the Hungarian blockade.
“We will always be on the side of all the proposals that allow this model to advance as quickly as possible, we will always be on that side. There was a blockade of Poland in the first stage, which was overcome, and now the one of Hungary appears and we hope that this blockade in Hungary can be resolved, but if the path proves impassable, we will always be at the forefront of implementing a solution of this nature. .”, Fernando Medina said.
Speaking on the second day of an informal meeting of the finance ministers of the European Union (EU), within the framework of the Czech Presidency of the Council, in Prague, the Portuguese official described this minimum taxation as “essential for Europe, for the good of and the sense of justice also within the communities”.
For Fernando Medina, this is a proposal “of the utmost importance that Europe adopts it and adopts it quickly because, in essence, it is a proposal that will allow national States to add taxes to companies that, in essence, are using jurisdictions where taxation it does not exist or is less than 15% so that everyone pays at least that 15%”.
The day that the finance ministers dealt with this matter, Fernando Medina recalled that “Portugal has been a great support for the progress of this dossier”.
“We gave great support during the French presidency for its approval because it will allow to put an end to a situation of deep injustice and deep deregulation within our societies, which is the fact that there are companies that, using their possibilities more capriciously, end up avoiding taxes in the various jurisdictions to which they are subject, that is, they have highly profitable activities that escape through there”, the official observed.
And he reinforced: “It is necessary for each one to pay their share of taxes for our collective good.”
France, Spain, Italy, Germany and the Netherlands presented this Friday a joint position to advance, in the absence of consensus, in a reinforced cooperation to resolve Hungary’s blockade on the application, in the EU, of the minimum taxation of 15% on the benefits of the largest companies to apply in 2023.
The proposal of these five countries aims, therefore, to guarantee the application of this minimum taxation, despite the Hungarian blockade to the measure, through the mechanism of enhanced cooperation, which allows a minimum number of nine Member States to advance if the EU , as a whole, does not reach a consensus in a reasonable time.
The EU finance ministers have not yet managed to reach a consensus so that multinational companies pay at least 15% tax on profits within the Community, after the agreement reached in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development ( OECD) to do so fiscally, given the blockade of Hungary.
Last December, the European Commission proposed a minimum taxation of 15% on the profits of multinationals in the EU, as agreed in the OECD, aiming at fairness and fiscal stability in the community space.
The proposed proposal established an effective tax rate of 15% in the EU, as agreed by 137 OECD countries, and provides that the rules would apply to any large group, both national and international, with a parent company or a subsidiary located in an EU Member State.
For several years, the OECD has been debating a proposal on taxes adapted to a globalized and digitized economy, with the aim of requiring multinationals to pay taxes where they find it most favorable.
Source: Observadora
