欧盟2022年度税收政策展望：双支柱方案立法、行为准则组织改革等

转让定价人 2022-01-17 00:00

编译整理：思迈特财税国际税收服务团队

2022年度欧盟税收政策议程将会十分繁忙，其主要议程包括双支柱方案立法、行为准则组织改革、环境税收等，其中，将“全球最低税”写入欧盟法律，可能将在欧盟税收历史上产生最深刻的影响；此外，欧盟还计划对行为准则组织（Code of Conduct Group）进行改革，以更好地评估欧盟内外各辖区的税收政策；与此同时，德国新政府还希望利用税收体系来促进绿色投资。

双支柱方案立法

2022年度，欧盟委员会的主要任务将是根据OECD的“支柱二立法模板”实施全球最低税。值得注意的是，2021年12月22日，欧盟委员会已发布实施支柱二最低税指令草案（参见tpperson微信公众号的往期推文：《欧盟委员会发布实施支柱二最低税指令草案》）。

该草案与OECD的全球协议是大体一致的，以此来确保跨国企业在欧盟法律下受到平等对待。欧盟财长将在本月开始对该草案进行立法讨论，欧盟委员会则希望该草案能在2022年度上半年获得一致同意。届时，法国将是欧盟轮值主席国，其也希望该草案能在春季前获得一致同意，这样就能给各国留出足够的时间在各自国家的议会中转化为国内法。此外，税务专业人士也在关注实施最低税的技术细节，这将给企业的税务遵从带来重大变化。

就落地时间而言，支柱一将比支柱二滞后。支柱一旨在赋予数字服务市场所在的辖区获得更多征税权。根据欧盟委员会的最新议程安排，支柱一的实施草案将会在2022年7月27日发布。OECD希望全球最低税及支柱一能在2023年实施，一些专家和从业者则认为该时间表过于乐观，“我已经围绕国际税务政策工作25年了，这是我见过最复杂的一套规则”，一位从业者这样说道。

2021年，欧盟取消了能增加自身税收之一的数字服务税，据称，欧盟委员会决定利用支柱一重新分配的常规利润而产生的税收来填补其预算缺口，由此，该措施其实对欧盟来说显得更加迫切。欧盟欲用支柱一来替换预算原有的数字服务税的具体措施是，将根据双支柱协议，“在支柱一下，根据重新分配给各成员国的跨国企业应税利润的份额，向欧盟提供预算”，提供的具体百分比则暂未明确。

然而，用支柱一来取代欧盟的数字服务税可能会引起争议，因为任何赋予欧盟类似传统国家权力的行为都会激怒许多成员国，而税收问题尤其敏感，这需要所有成员国一致同意。爱沙尼亚和匈牙利已表示将阻止欧盟利用支柱一重新分配的应税利润而产生的税收来填补原有数字服务税带来的税收收入预算。可见，取消数字服务税的举措对欧盟委员会来说将是困难的，前述提出的利用支柱一来填补预算缺口的措施，看起来则像是在安抚欧盟内部预算制定的鹰派。一位欧盟的高级官员表示，若支柱一最终不能通过立法，那么将不排除重新启动数字服务税。

欧盟行为准则组织改革

欧盟成员国可能将继续在2022年度讨论行为准则组织在税收领域的改革。该组织以行为准则为依据，从而确定欧盟成员国的税收政策是否有害，并确定欧盟以外国家或地区是否应列入“税收黑名单”。

2020年7月，欧盟委员会宣布对该组织进行改革，以使其具有更广泛的职责。欧盟委员会建议该组织应着眼于一个国家税收制度的总体结构，而不仅仅是具体的税收政策。但彼时的改革提议遭到爱沙尼亚和匈牙利的反对而被搁置。一些非政府组织则认为，尽管该组织缺乏执法权，但其对打击破坏性和有害税收实践是重要的。

德国新联合政府的税收政策

联合政府在谈判初期表示，其无意提高所得税或增值税等关键税种的税率。虽然最终的联合政府协议对税收几乎没有提及，但其还是包括了对数字化和清洁能源投资的加速折旧以及延长亏损结转条款。

环境税收

欧盟委员会提议的碳边境调节机制（CBAM）将使从环保法律较薄弱的辖区进口的商品更贵，该机制拟规定，2023年起，进口商将需要申报其进口产品的碳排放量，2026年起将开始征税。但是专家认为，该时间表还是显得太乐观了。

另外，欧盟委员会还提出对欧盟能源税框架法（即能源税指令）进行修订，以使该法更符合欧盟的气候目标。例如，结束对飞机用煤油和轮船用油的免税政策。但是，因各成员国国情不同，对修订能源税的看法和做法都不一致，例如，2018年法国提议提高燃油税而引发大规模游行示威，因此，化解各成员国之间的分歧显得尤为重要。

附英文报道如下：

European Tax Policy To Watch In 2022

By Todd Buell · Jan3, 2022, 12:02 PM EST ·

The European tax calendar will be busy in 2022 as policy makers try to write into law the global minimum tax agreed to by 137 countries — likely the most profound change to the tax system in European Union history.

The European Commission's main task for the year will be to implement the minimum tax, on which the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development issued model rules in December. Along with its proposal on the minimum tax,which is known as Pillar Two of the OECD's sweeping rewrite of the international tax rules, the commission is due to replace a revenue-raising measure in its own budget with the reallocation of taxing rights known as Pillar One.

A side from work on the two pillars, law makers will likely be occupied with ideas to reform a secretive EU body that assesses tax policies inside and outside the bloc. Meanwhile, a new government in Germany wants to use the tax system to boost green investments.

Here, Law360 examines the main tax policy developments that specialists will be watching for in the months to come.

Pillar One and Pillar Two

Pillar One, an approach that gives more taxing rights to so-called market jurisdictions, has taken on greater urgency for the EU with the commission's decision to use the revenue from the measure to fill a gap in its budget. After scrapping a planned digital services tax — one of the budget provisions designed to allow the EU to raise itsown revenue, or "own resources" — in December, the commission said it would look to Pillar One to make up the lost revenue.

The European Union is expected to offer its version of a proposal to give more taxing rights to market jurisdictions on July 27. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

On Dec. 22, the commission announced it would include part of the implementation of Pillar One in its budget. It said it was proposing that 15% of the share of residual profits allocated to EU member countries under Pillar One would flow toward the EU to help pay for the costs of the pandemic. EU budget commissioner Johannes Hahn said this could amount to up to €4 billion annually.

The measure could offer relief to smaller companies that risked beingsubject to the digital levy but would be spared from Pillar One, which would only impact very large firms. "An own resource based on Pillar One revenues would affect the world's largest corporations only," said Margit Schratzenstaller of Austria's Wifo institute.

The EU is expected to offer its version of Pillar One later in the year,with the latest calendar from the European Commission saying a proposal will come July 27.

Tax professionals are also eyeing the technical details of the commission's guidance on the minimum tax, which will spell big changes for companies'compliance regimes.

"To assist clients, we have to understand how and when Pillar Two isimplemented and how companies will have to comply with Pillar Two. This could be a very complex exercise," said Giorgia Maffini of PwC in London.

The EU unveiled its version of the tax Dec. 22, which stayed in line with the international agreement reached at the OECD while ensuring that both domestic and foreign groups are treated equally under EU law. It said EU finance ministers will begin discussions on the law in January, and thecommission hopes to have the bill formally agreed to in the first half of theyear.

France, which will lead meetings of EU members for the first six months of 2022, intends to achieve unanimous approval among members by the spring, thus giving enough time for national parliaments to transpose the deal into national law by the end of the year.

Tax professionals are hoping for a speedy agreement.

"We very much support France's ambition to make the minimum taxationin the EU a reality within its six-month presidency of the EU Council … and count on every member state to keep their word and swiftly agree on this reform," said Philippe Arraou,president of the European Tax Adviser Federation.

The OECD hopes that the minimum tax, as well as Pillar One, can come intoforce in 2023, a pace that some experts find rushed.

Edwin Visser, a tax specialist with PwC in Amsterdam, said the implementation timeline is too optimistic.

"I've been in international tax policy for 25 years, and this is the most complex set of rules I've ever seen," he told Law360.

Code of Conduct Group

EU member states in 2022 are also likely to continue a discussion on reformof the EU's Code of Conduct Group on business taxation. The group enforces a code, established in 1997, that is used as a basis to determine whether taxpolicies from EU countries are harmful and which countries from outside the bloc should be on the so-called tax blacklist.

In July 2020, the European Commission announced a push to reform the Code of Conduct Group and give it a broader mandate to look into countries' tax affairs. The commission suggested the group should look at the general structures of a country's tax system rather than just specific tax measures.

The EU's council of member states discussed these changes at a meeting of finance ministers in early December, but progress was blocked because two countries, Estonia and Hungary, objected. Estonia said it wanted to wait until the OECD tax over haul is completed before agreeing to further tax policy changes, and Hungary said it disagreed with the reforms on the merits.

Expanding the mandate to the general features of a tax system is "toobroad for an extension of the mandate, which could cause several problems," the Hungarian finance ministry told Law360. It also warned that reforms to the group could "create a backdoor to undesirable tax harmonization," making it politically "very difficult to accept."

For nongovernmental organizations, reforming the Code of Conduct Group is essential to tamp down what they see as damaging and harmful tax competition in the bloc, even if the group lacks broad enforcement power.

"This is what we have for the moment to try to tackle harmful tax practices. We are aware that it's a weak body," said Chiara Putaturo of Oxfam.

New German Government

On Dec. 8, a new German government came into office led by former Finance Minister Olaf Scholz as chancellor and Christian Lindner of the classicall yliberal Free Democrats as finance minister. The Green Party serves as the third member of the government.

The coalition said early in its negotiations that it didn't want to raise the rates of key taxes such as income or value-added tax. While the finalcoalition agreement says little about tax, it does include an accelerated depreciationon investments in digitalization and clean energy as well as an extended loss carry back provision.

Tax specialists believe these measures, about which details are scarce at the moment, have the potential to offer significant economic support.

"Any reform proposal should be efficient and effective," and that applies to both measures, said Reinald Koch, a professor at the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt in Germany.

Environmental Taxation

Specialists also expect European leaders to discuss major changes to environmental tax law that the European Commission introduced in 2021.

The commission's proposed carbon border adjustment mechanism would essentially make it more expensive to import items from places with weak environmental laws. As it stands now, the law would require importers to report emissions from their products starting in 2023, even though they wouldn't have to pay any levies until 2026. This implementation time line, however, goes too quickly for some specialists.

"I think's an ambitious plan to have it implemented by 2023,"said Schratzenstaller of the Wifo institute.

In addition, the commission has put forward a revision to the bloc's framework law on energy tax, known as the Energy Taxation Directive. The commission said in 2019 that the law was out of date, and it is trying to make changes so that the law is more in line with the EU's climate goals. For example, it wants to end a tax exemption for kerosene used in airplanes and oil used in ships.

EU countries, however, have struggled to resolve differences on how to change the energy tax law for years, with countries not wanting to endorse changes that would spark domestic anger, such as the backl ash to proposed higher fuel taxes in France in 2018.

"It will be a challenge to find a common denominator between themember countries," Schratzenstaller said.

Nevertheless, companies need to closely watch developments in environmental taxation, another specialist said.

"Clients are concerned not only about the CBAM but also about the revision of the ETD and the general 'greenification' of taxation," said Jean-Philippe Van West of PwC in Belgium. "These might seem like changes that are just in a draft stage, but the changes will come fast, and you need tobe prepared."

--Additional reporting by Matt Thompson. Editing by Aaron Pelc and VincentSherry.（Source ：Law360）