This paper reviews current company tax systems in the EU and examines various options for reform and harmonization.

Tax competition in the form of harmful tax practices can distort trade and investment patterns, erode national tax bases and shift part of the tax burden onto less mobile tax bases. The Report emphasises that governments must intensify their cooperative actions to curb harmful tax practices.

How does EU law affect Member State corporate tax systems and the cross-border activities of companies? This unique study traces the historical development of EU corporate tax law and provides an in-depth analysis of a number of issues affecting companies, groups of companies and permanent establishments. Existing legislation, soft-law and the case-law of the Court of Justice are examined. The proposed CCCTB Directive and its potential application through enhanced co-operation are also considered. In addition to the tax issues pertaining to direct investment, the author examines the taxation of passive investment income, corporate reorganisations, exit taxes and the restrictive effect of domestic anti-abuse regimes. By doing so, the convergences and divergences arising from the interplay of EU corporate tax law and international tax law, especially the OECD model, are uncovered and highlighted.

The tax rules of the United States and other countries have intended and unintended effects on the operations of multinational corporations, influencing everything from the formation and allocation of capital to competitive strategies. The growing importance of international business has led economists to reconsider whether current systems of taxing international income are viable in a world of significant capital market integration and global commercial competition. In an attempt to quantify the effect of tax policy on international investment choices, this volume presents in-depth analyses of the interaction of international tax rules and the investment decisions of multinational enterprises. Ten papers assess the role played by multinational firms and their investment in the U.S. economy and the design of international tax rules for multinational investment; analyze channels through which international tax rules affect the costs of international business activities; and examine ways in which international tax rules affect financing decisions of multinational firms. As a group, the papers demonstrate that international tax rules have significant effects on firms' investment and other financing decisions.

Tax administration improvements have contributed significantly to a doubling of China’s tax-to-GDP ratio and the substantial reduction in taxpayers’ compliance costs since the mid-1990s. This paper describes the key features of China’s tax administration and their evolution over the last 20 years. It also identifes emerging challenges to the tax system and areas where further tax administration improvements are needed to sustain tax revenue and reduce taxpayers’ compliance costs in the future.

This book focuses on the status quo of European tax integration, combining law, policy and politics. Good policy should identify and address problems when they arise, achieving suitable solutions that law implements. Within the European Union, this relation is malfunctioning or entirely missing in direct tax matters. Positive tax integration in the European Union has mostly failed to transform supranational policy goals into actual measures of harmonization and coordination, except for the recent reaction to tax avoidance. The topical studies contained in this book hold that without a proper action that removes cross-border tax obstacles, positive tax integration shifts away from its original goals. Furthermore, such a scenario leaves the bulk of European tax integration in the hands of the limits established by negative tax integration, with little room for developing a structured policy in the interest of the European Union. This peer-reviewed publication aims to stimulate debate among scholars, decision-makers, practitioners, politicians and interpreters of European international tax law, with a view to bringing European tax integration back on the right track.