From total to structural harmonization in the field of European direct taxation

摘要

Among economic policy questions remaining without a definitive response perhaps none are as contentious as the future of direct taxation within the European Union. In this paper I intend to express my opinion regarding the issue of Tax Harmonization versus Tax Competition which has been globally debated over the last decades and which is still considered extremely controversial at the European level. Studying the researches in the specified area corroborated with empirical evidence I summarized myself some key questions: Has indeed national tax systems a negative effect on EU market integration? Is indeed tax harmonization critical to the operation of the Single Market so that goods, services, people and capital can move freely around the EU? There are some questions appreciated as very important which I try to answer in this paper. Specifically, this paper encourages the Commission and member states to accept the beneficial role of tax competition in limiting the over-expansion of EU jurisdictions. Given that tax harmonization is an almost impossible goal for European Union, and on the other hand so many national different tax regulations pose problems for all companies doing business abroad, the solution would be consolidation of the tax rules.