Claims to be in favour of stamping out immoral tax practices were shown to be little more than lip service
On Wednesday, Conservative and UKIP MEPs voted against proposals in the European Parliament which were aimed at making the tax system fairer, including cracking down on tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance.
In its Annual Tax Report, the European Parliament proposed concrete measures to tackle immoral tax practices, including making companies report where they make their profits and where they pay their taxes. It also proposed an agreed Europe-wide definition of tax havens that would allow tax dodgers to be named and shamed.
The report was passed by a cross-party selection of MEPs by 444 votes to 110, with 41 abstensions.
Anneliese Dodds MEP, member of the European Parliament economic and monetary affairs committee, and Socialists & Democrats Group co-rapporteur of the parliament’s legislative initiative report on tax avoidance, said:
“Yet again, the Tories and UKIP have shown whose side they are really on. They talk the talk about cracking down on tax fiddling, but when the time comes for action they vote in favour of more secrecy and more inequality.
“The proposals in the Annual Tax Report are about making society fairer, and giving small businesses a chance, about stopping the situation where a family-run business in the UK dutifully pays the right rate of corporation tax, while a large multinational corporation negotiates a sweetheart deal to reduce its tax rate to almost zero.
“It’s clear from today’s vote that the Tories and UKIP are once again on the side of vested interests against the interests of working people.”
The report recommends that the European Commission should prepare a blacklist, before July 2015, of tax havens and countries whose tax practices distort competition. It also suggests suspending or revoking the banking or advisory licences of accountants, law firms and other financial advisors convicted of tax fraud, and improving transparency around tax rulings which create opportunities for tax avoidance.
In November, deputy UKIP leader Paul Nuttall launched a strongly worded attack on the President of the EU Commission Jean-Claude Juncker over the issue of tax avoidance.
“Now, let’s get to the rub of it. The definition of hypocrisy according in the Oxford English dictionary is the practice of claiming to have higher standards or more normal beliefs than is the case.
“And I don’t think anyone in this chamber could disagree with me today when I say this perfectly sums up the position of the President of the European Commission here today.
“Under his tenure Luxembourg was a “magical fairy land” for multinational corporations where tax rates were as little as one percent paid on profits.”
The accusations of hypocrisy from UKIP take on an interesting colour after Wednesday’s developments in Brussels.
Ruby Stockham is a staff writer at Left Foot Forward. Follow her on Twitter
20 Responses to “Tory and UKIP MEPS vote AGAINST proposals to crack down on tax dodging”
Robert Robson
Pathetic. If you have to allude to Hitler in an argument, and associate the opposition to supranational government with Nazism, you’ve lost.
Luke Styles
I am well aware of Godwin’s Law. I never mentioned Hitler or the Nazis. I did not pick the 30’s because of Hitler. I suppose I might have picked them because labour have accused the tories of 1930’s spending plans. However what is pathetic is criticizing me for something I did not mean without actually commenting on the actual topic.
northwing
Surprise, surprise, Tories in favour of tough measures to combat crime- as long as it isn’t rich people’s crime.
royaljester
Once again UKIP’s policies have been taken out of text! UKIP stands for reducing the taxes for low to average paid workers which is highly commendable. There are grey waters when it comes to the higher sector – do we tax the more wealthy people a lot more so that they will withdraw their trading from the UK in favour of a more tax favourable country? Or do we relax the taxes that businessmen pay so that they will be more inclined to deal within the UK and invest in the UK?
Ron Carr
Yeah, they’re called the Greens.