TAXATION : COMMISSION TO FOCUS ON DIGITAL ECONOMY.

Taxation Commissioner Algirdas Semeta urged member states, on 9 October, to adapt their tax systems, "designed at a time when computers were still a futuristic idea," to the digital economy.

The Lithuanian commissioner participated in a seminar hosted in Paris by the French government on New taxatio challenges in the digital age'. The subject has become extremely sensitive as a number of multinationals (Google, Amazon, etc) are being singled out for criticism for their tax optimisation strategies - judged "unacceptable and unsustainable" by Semeta.

The commissioner announced plans to set up a "reflection group," whose work will be guided by two imperatives: on the one hand, to integrate the digital economy into tax systems, which will have to be adapted so that its players pay their fair share of tax; and on the other, to keep from undermining the competitiveness of a booming sector - which the European Council debated on 24-25 October.

Semeta applauded the action plan to combat tax base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS), drawn up by the OECD and approved in September by the G20 leaders.

At the same time, the Union intends to continue its drive, he added, emphasising certain initiatives already taken and decisions in the pipeline.

On 23 October, the Commission proposed the introduction of a "single VAT declaration" in the EU and the harmonisation of requirements...