Corporation Tax

All Together Now?

AS RECENTLY REPORTED direct tax harmonisation is truly back on the agenda at the EU or at least it will be if some Member States get their way. An informal meeting of EU finance ministers on 11 September agreed to set up a working group to consider how direct tax harmonisation might be achieved. However such moves are likely to be viewed as a waste of time by many and the working group is likely to raise the ire of Gordon Brown Chancellor of the Exchequer who has consistently repeated his rejection of EU interference in domestic tax issues.

In this article we go back to basics looking at the historical context of direct taxation in the EU before moving on to consider what harmonisation might look like and in particular considering what...