In a resolution overwhelmingly approved by 500 votes to 137, the parliament said that any money recovered from companies who have not paid the correct amount of tax due to ‘sweetheart’ tax deals should not return to the same member state, but instead be given to other member states who have suffered an erosion of their tax bases or to the EU budget.
The resolution followed a report by MEP Werner Langen, who sits on the parliament’s economic and monetary affairs committee, in response to the European Commission’s annual competition report.
“Globalisation and the digital economy require new rules on fair taxation,” he said. “The European Parliament wants to be actively involved in these processes.”
Langen’s report welcomed the recent state aid investigations into Starbucks and Fiat, Amazon, Apple and the subsequent investigations into all 28 member states’ tax ruling practices.
