Tax avoidance: does Malta play a role?

On 30 August, the European Union, through Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, ordered Apple Corporation to pay €13 billion in unpaid taxes to the Irish state.  The EU ruling considered that the special tax treatment of Apple, whose tax bill was substantially reduced, amounted to unlawful state aid.

In November 2014, through Luxleaks, we learnt of tax avoidance schemes in Luxembourg and elsewhere, as a result of which billions of euros in tax were being avoided by multinational corporations.

The EU has subsequently launched various investigations into the favourable tax treatment which Luxembourg, The Netherlands and Belgium have granted to various multinationals.

As a contribution to the on-going debate on tax avoidance in the EU, the Green Group in the European Parliament has recently published a study on the tax avoidance strategies adopted by the industrial giant BASF, the largest chemical company in the world.

Founded in 1865, BASF has its headquarters in Ludwigshafen, Germany, from where it manages a €70.4 billion turnover with production sites in 80 countries.

Malta features in this report together with Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

Over the years, BASF has used mismatches in national tax systems in order to avoid paying its taxes. It is estimated that, over a five-year period spanning 2010 to 2014, BASF avoided the payment of close to one billion euros in taxes.

Chapter VIII of the report, published by the Green Group in the European Parliament, deals with Malta. It refers to the existence of a BASF subsidiary in Malta which held €5.07 billion in assets. These assets where transferred to a new German subsidiary, BASF Finance Malta GMBH, which was managed from an office in St Julian’s, thereby creating the eligibility for preferential tax treatment which could amount to as much as a refund of six-sevenths of all tax payable in Malta.

All this is a clearly planned movement of profits through generous loopholes as a way of avoiding most of, if not all, of the taxation which would be due under normal circumstances.

This abuse of the differences in national tax systems needs to be addressed urgently. As rightly stated by Malta’s Finance Minister Edward Scicluna at a Luxembourg ECOFIN meeting last September, the way forward lies in coordination at an EU level and not in the harmonisation of the national taxation systems, as some EU member states are insisting.

Tax competition has a role to play as an important tool that small and peripheral countries in the EU have at their disposal. No one should expect these countries to throw away the small advantage they have, but it should be clear that this should be used responsibly and in no way should it buttress the urge of multinationals to circumvent the national taxation system where their profits are generated.

Profits should be taxed where they are actually generated and not elsewhere. The EU needs to end – once and for all – not only tax evasion but also tax avoidance resulting from loopholes in national tax rules. For this to happen, the member states must not only be vigilant, but must also refrain from encouraging tax avoidance through the creation of more loopholes.

Tackling tax evasion and tax avoidance seriously will mean that taxes are paid where they are due, thereby funding the services and infrastructure that is required in a modern, civilised society. This can only happen if more companies pay their dues. Tax competition need not be a race to the bottom.

published in The Malta Independent on Sunday – 4 December 2016

Malta, il-Lussimburgu u l-evażjoni tat-taxxa

Matul il-ġranet li għaddew segwejna l-informazzjoni żvelata dwar il-Lussimburgu. Kif l-awtoritajiet tat-taxxa tal-pajjiż, fiż-żmien li Jean Claude Juncker kien Prim Ministru innegozjaw ma numru ta’ kumpaniji kbar status fiskali li permezz tiegħu setgħu “jiffrankaw” biljuni kbar f’taxxi.

Din li jiffrankaw fil-fatt ma hi xejn għajr evazjoni legalizzata tat-taxxa. Biex ma jħallsux taxxa f’pajjiż jagħmlu użu mil-liġijiet ta’ pajjiż ieħor. Għal min hu fil-business dan hu aċċettabbli. Fil-fatt meta kien ippressat mill-istampa Jean Claude Juncker qal li dak li ġara kien legali imma jifhem li mhux aċċettabbli etikament.

Għax il-politika m’għandiex x’taqsam biss mal-liġi. Dak li hu legali mhux dejjem huwa aċċettabbli. Fil-prattika, l-Lussimburgu taħt it-tmexxija ta’ Juncker għamlitha possibli lil numru ta’ multinazzjonali jħallsu ħafna inqas f’taxxi.  Dan hu etikament ħażin. Għax ċaħħdet lill-pajjiżi fejn joperaw dawn il-kumpaniji minn taxxi li kienu meħtieġa għal programmi soċjali f’dawk il-pajjiżi.

L-argumenti politiċi li jinġiebu s’issa huma dawk dwar il-kompetizzjoni fiskali. Jiġifieri li ġaladarba t-tassazzjoni hi kompetenza tal-istati membri fl-Unjoni Ewropeja, x’rati ta’ taxxa jitħallsu u minn min hu determinabbli biss individwalment mill-istati membri tal-Unjoni Ewropeja.

Imma issa hemm min qed jargumenta li meta pajjiż jagħti status fiskali privileġġjat lil dawn il-kumpaniji biex jiġbdhom lejn il-pajjiż, idaħħal ftit taxxi minn fuqhom kif ukoll joħloq numru ta’ impiegi konnessi mar-reġistrazzjoni u l-amministrazzjoni tal-kumpaniji, dan kollu hu għajnuna mill-istat (state aid) liema għajnuna mhiex aċċettabbli.

Għalhekk fetħet investigazzjoni dwar il-Lussimburgu li qed titmexxa mill-Kummissarju għall-Kompetizzjoni, id-Daniża Margrethe Vestager.

Hu inevitabbli li dan kollu f’xi stadju ser iħalli impatt fuq is-settur finanzjarju f’Malta. Huwa magħruf li bosta xogħol f’dan il-qasam ġie f’Malta minħabba pakkett ta’ inċentivi li jinkludi rati ta’ taxxa favorevoli ħafna. Fi ftit kliem dawn il-kumpaniji ġew hawn għax jaqblilhom. Jaqblilhom għax iħallsu ftit taxxi ħdejn li jkollhom iħallsu f’pajjiżi oħra. Bħala riżultat ta’ dan qed jagħtu kontribut lill-ekonomija tal-pajjiż kif ukoll qed jiġġeneraw numru mhux żgħir ta’ impiegi.

Il-problema hi li dan kollu huwa ibbażat fuq l-evażjoni tat-taxxa f’pajjiżi  oħra. Hi problema li rridu niffaċċjaw fix-xhur li ġejjin meta l-Kummissjoni Ewropeja tiddeċiedi jekk tiftaħx investigazzjoni dwar Malta kif ukoll dwar pajjiżi oħra fosthom l-Irlanda u dan wara li tiżviluppa ftit ieħor l-investigazzjoni dwar il-Lussimburgu.

Tajjeb li l-istat Malti jiġġieled f’Malta kontra l-evażjoni tat-taxxa. Imma imbagħad hi ipokrezija politika li Malta tfittex li tibbenefika mill-evażjoni tat-taxxa f’pajjiżi oħra.  Jew aħna kontra l-evażjoni jew m’aħniex!  Ma nistgħux inkunu kredibbli bħala pajjiż jekk nibqgħu niżviluppaw l-ekonomija tagħna fuq l-evażjoni tat-taxxi f’pajjiżi oħra.  L-ekonomija u l-etika għandhom jimxu id f’id.