Filenews 17 July 2025
Proposals for reforms to the European Union's tax rules to boost competitiveness by continuing the fight against tax avoidance and tax evasion were approved on Tuesday by MEPs of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs.
The report, which was drafted by Michalis Hadjipantela (DISY MEP, member of the European People's Party group), was adopted by the Commission with 46 votes in favour, 2 against and 11 abstentions. Its content is expected to feed into the ongoing legislative work on legislative simplification and in particular to a specific Commission proposal, expected in early 2026.
The report presents a number of proposals to simplify tax compliance and remove administrative barriers in the internal market. Their implementation is expected to reduce the financial cost of compliance, which – especially for SMEs – is estimated to amount to around 30% of the taxes paid. At the same time, the proposals will make it easier for governments to collect and manage taxes, helping to reduce tax evasion and avoidance and mobilising additional resources for investment by states in other sectors.
The report calls on the Commission to set up an EU tax data hub to improve the automatic exchange of tax information and reduce administrative burdens.
This will also help detect and eliminate all cases of double reporting, thus relieving taxpayers of double reporting obligations. The hub will also serve as a single access point for tax authorities across the EU.
In order to mobilise more savings of European citizens who remain in low-interest bank accounts, MEPs stress that tax reporting procedures for savings and investment accounts need to be simplified to make it easier and more to encourage more citizens to invest in EU capital markets.
The adopted text also states that harmonising the use of the tax identification number in all Member States could contribute to administrative cooperation and reporting.
Finally, the Commission is invited to evaluate and simplify the current VAT framework, the Directive on administrative cooperation in the field of taxation and the Directive on combating tax avoidance.
MEPs stress that simplification alone will not be enough, as it is also important to invest in the capacity of tax authorities to ensure that existing reporting obligations are used to the fullest. MEPs call on the Commission to map existing tax obstacles to cross-border investment and present an action plan to address them.
Finally, they call for measures to address the tax issues faced by cross-border workers and digital nomads, as well as the simplification of R&M (R&D) tax incentive schemes.
