European Union tax: EU Member States to promote "good governance" in the tax area

The European Commission has produced a follow-up document to the Communication adopted in April 2009 that identified the actions that EU Member States should take to promote "good governance" in the tax area (i.e. more transparency, exchange of information and fair tax competition).

New proposals include: more support for international development initiatives (particularly international standards of tax cooperation; referring specifically to strengthening tax systems and to good governance in future agreements; and supporting the adoption of the OECD transfer pricing guidelines in developing countries. The document argues for continuing research into making a country-bycountry reporting requirement as part of a standard for multinational corporations, especially in the extractive industry.