European Parliament, Directorate-General for Internal Policies of the Union, Haslehner, W., Pantazatou, K., European Parliament, 2022.

This study aims to provide an overview of the recently implemented anti-tax avoidance and evasion measures, notably the ATAD and DAC 6. It reviews the implementation of these directives across different Member States and assesses the problems that arise with regard to the interpretation of some of the directives’ provisions. This document was provided by the Policy Department for Economic, Scientific and Quality of Life Policies at the request of the Economic and Monetary Affairs Subcommittee on tax matters (FISC).

General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union, 2024.

EMPACT stands for the European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats.

European Commission: Directorate-General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union, Gojsic, D., Akhvlediani, T., Korenblit, A., De Groen, W. et al., Feasibility study for a European asset registry in the context of the fight against money laundering and tax evasion – Executive summary, Publications Office of the European Union, 2024.

This study aims to assess the feasibility of providing a unique access point for competent authorities involved in the fight against money laundering and tax evasion to relevant asset registers in the EU Member States. The study first defines a list of assets relevant for money laundering and tax evasion, then maps existing asset registries, identifies gaps and provides a feasibility assessment of three potential scenarios from an operational, legal, and IT perspective. In addition, a cost and benefit analysis is performed for each scenario.

European Commission, Directorate-General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union, Gojsic, D., Akhvlediani, T., et al., Publications Office of the European Union, 2024.

This study assesses the feasibility of setting up a single access point to relevant asset registries in the EU Member States for competent authorities involved in the fight against money laundering and tax evasion. It first defines the relevant assets for money laundering and tax evasion, maps existing registries and identifies gaps. It then assesses three potential implementation scenarios' legal, operational and IT feasibility and provides a cost-benefit analysis. These scenarios are (1) the creation of additional asset registries at the national level and their interconnection at the EU level; (2) the interconnection of existing national asset registries at the EU level; and (3) the establishment of a centralised EU asset registry.

European Parliament, Directorate-General for Internal Policies of the Union, Lejour, A., European Parliament, 2023.

This report examines the role of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in tax havens. About 40-45% of the global FDI stock is hosted in tax havens, while their share in the world economy is only around 4½%. These abnormal FDI patterns suggest that FDI and international corporate tax avoidance are closely related. Traditional tax havens are attractive because of zero tax rates and uncooperative behaviour. For European tax havens it is rather a mix of policies related to improving the investment climate and this mix differs by country.

European Commission, Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs, Huss, O., Beke, M., et al., Publications Office of the European Union, 2023.

The goal of this Handbook is to map a variety of anti-corruption practices in EU Member States (MS) that have proved to be useful in solving problems related to corruption, and which can inspire similar initiatives elsewhere. For this purpose, one good anti-corruption practice either established or innovative, with positive impact aspirations in each EU Member State was selected, and clustered into eight types of anti-corruption approaches. The Handbook is structured along these identified types.

European Parliament, Directorate-General for Internal Policies of the Union, Malan, J., Bosch Chen, I., European Parliament, 2022.

This study examines the problem of Missing Trader Intra-Community (MTIC) Fraud, the nature and scale of its impact on the EU’s finances, and potential solutions. The solutions that are assessed are: Split Payment Methods, Electronic Clearance Procedure (a digital solution), Real-Time Reporting (and TX++), VAT Coin, and the Definitive VAT system (and proposed amendments). Recommendations are made regarding the most appropriate solution.

European Parliament, Directorate-General for Internal Policies of the Union, Mulligan, E., Bassey, E., et al., European Parliament, 2022.

This study provides an overview of the regulatory environment of tax intermediaries. It presents a comparative analysis of five selected countries (4 EU, 1 Non-EU). For each country, it provides an understanding of the landscape of the tax profession, the current regulatory framework and its impact on tax compliance and draws attention to some weaknesses across this regulatory space. It also highlights some proposed remedies and direction for further in-depth research in this area. This document was provided by the Policy Department for Economic, Scientific and Quality of Life Policies at the request of the Economic and Monetary Affairs' Subcommittee on Tax Matters (FISC).

European Parliament, Directorate-General for Internal Policies of the Union, Heckemeyer, J., Publications Office of the European Union, 2022.

The coexistence of 27 different national tax systems in the European Union brings about significant obstacles to cross border business activity in the European Single Market. The objective of this study is to show the context and developments in European secondary law that have led to the current situation or, at least, have not yet resolved it. In addition, perspectives are shown as to how the described obstacles to cross border investment in the Internal Market can be countered both in the short and long term, both at the fundamental and also at the procedural or administrative level. This document was provided by the Policy Department for Economic, Scientific and Quality of Life Policies for the Subcommittee on Tax Matters (FISC).

European Parliament, Directorate-General for Internal Policies of the Union, Schneider, F., Asllani, A., Publications Office of the European Union, 2022.

This study provides estimates of the size and development of the shadow economy in the EU up to 2022 and analyses the main factors that drive economic agents to enter the shadow economy activities (part 1). Moreover, the study reviews and elaborates on the main driving forces and the policy measures implemented to reduce the shadow economy in six EU countries (Germany, Austria, Italy, Denmark, Romania and Greece) (part 2). This document was provided by the Policy Department for Economic, Scientific and Quality of Life Policies at the request of the Economic and Monetary Affairs Subcommittee on tax matters (FISC).

European Commission, Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union, Publications Office of the European Union, 2024.

Missing Trader Intra-Community fraud (MTIC fraud) is a type of VAT fraud under which a fraudulent trader supplies goods and services to other businesses, collects the tax due on the supply from their customers, and disappears without ever remitting it to the tax authorities. This phenomenon deserves special attention – revealed cases for fraud and different studies, despite varying assessment of the exact scale, are in consensus that it has made up a significant share of the overall VAT compliance gap. This study reveals that the available analytical methods and data sources create a potential for estimating the scale of the MTIC gap in the EU and EU Member States.

European Commission, Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union, Poniatowski, G., Bonch-Osmolovskiy, M., et al., Publications Office of the European Union, 2023.

This report aims to support tax administrations in their VAT gap monitoring efforts. It scrutinises VAT compliance gaps and VAT policy gaps in all EU Member States using a standardised methodology and data sources, which allows for comparisons across time and against other Member States. The estimates provided in this report serve for some administrations as a reference point for own analyses. For other administrations that do not prepare own estimates of the VAT compliance gap and VAT expenditures, the estimates presented in this report are the primary source information on VAT gaps.