Activities of Mikuláš PEKSA related to 2021/2201(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Impact of new technologies on taxation: crypto and blockchain (debate)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the impact of new technologies on taxation: crypto and blockchain
Amendments (30)
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 10 a (new)
Citation 10 a (new)
— having regard to the OECD public consultation document of 22 March 2022 entitled ‘Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework and Amendments to the Common Reporting Standard’,
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the use of new technologies in the EU single market and the digitalisation of tax administrations across Europe iscan facilitate better compliance and transforming relations between taxpayers, citizens and companies, as taxpayers, along with nwith national tax authorities; whereas the EU could play a leading role in ensuring that the procedural and technical aspects of the digitalisational of tax authorities, are facilitating better compliancedministrations are coordinated to avoid barriers to interoperability of national technical platforms;
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas tax authorities face many challenges nowadays regarding effective tax enforcement and most in particular cross-border cooperation, given the acceleration of digital transactions, the increasing mobility of taxpayers, the number of cross-border transactions and the internationalisation of economic operations and business models;
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas tax authorities need to keep up with potential risks for the sustainability of tax systems and their abilitybe provided with the tools and means to enforce national and European legal frameworks regarding taxation;
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas new technological solutions, such as blockchain, can be used by tax administrations to better serve the needs ofcollect revenues more effectively, also from those more mobile taxpayers and lower the administrative burden for all tax payers, while such technologies can also be abused and serve as a vehicle for illicit activities, with the criminal intent to avoid paying taxes; whereas achieving policy objectives in a digitalising world and a more economically integrated internal market will require the harmonisation of technical infrastructure;
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas tax administrations across Europe, within different degrees, are taking important steps towards the digitalisation of processes, making tax compliance easier, faster and more effective; whereas the use of new technologies is significantly different between Member States; whereas national tax administrations, in general, need a further push to realise their full potential in the field of technological and digital transformation; whereas technology can help facilitating cooperation between the different government bodies: customs, tax, social security, financial intelligence units, ministry of justice, and ministry of finance achieving a whole of government approach;
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas the increasing use of crypto-assets is forcing tax administrations to adapt current taxing ppose a significant risk to recent gains in global tax transparency as crypto-asset activity has reduced tax administrations’ visibility on tax- relevant activities and therefore calls for tax administractices within the single marketons to engage in cross-border collaboration and coordination;
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)
Recital F a (new)
F a. whereas the OECD Common Reporting Standard (CRS) has improved international tax transparency by requiring jurisdictions to obtain information on offshore assets held with financial institutions and automatically exchange that information with the jurisdictions of residence of taxpayers on an annual basis, however, crypto-assets will in most instances not fall within the scope of the CRS, which applies to traditional financial assets and fiat currencies;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas there isequivalent to other tangible and international effort and commitment to better regulate the fairangible assets, crypto- assets need to be subject to taxation ofin the digital economy; whereas, in this context, it is crucial that the EU take a leading role, namely on strong cooperation between Member States to tax, in a fair and transparent way, crypto-assetsEU, tax competition leading inevitably to a race to the bottom between Member States should be avoided and curtailed;
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G a (new)
Recital G a (new)
G a. whereas it is estimated that the revenue potential for the EU of taxing realized Bitcoin capital gains in 2020 could amount to approximately EUR 800million to EUR 900 million;
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas the Union has already taken important steps towards a clear definition of crypto-assets and this definition must facilitate the fair and simple taxation of these assets; and whereas definitions of such crypto-assets must be highly aligned with international standards, namely withe OECD and the Financial Action Task Force;
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
Recital I
I. whereas tax policy is a national competence, but strong cooperstrong cooperation and where needed harmonisation between Member States is essential to respond to the challenges posed to the integrity of the single market, namely and the sustainability of tax systems by the increasing the use of crypto- assets; whereas a framework of 27 significantly different taxation approaches to crypto-assets taxation could lead to significant obstacles for the fulfilment of the objectives of the European digital single marketwould be highly undesirable;
Amendment 50 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J
Recital J
J. whereas the European Union and its single market must ensure an innovation-friendly environment for companies (namely small and medium- sized enterprises (SMEs) and start-ups) regarding new technologies in the area of financial services and crypto-assets; whereas this main goal requires a strong commitment from Member States with policies, namely on taxation, thatfuture legislative proposals in the area of the taxation of crypto-assets and the utilisation of new technologies should ensure a stable, clear and certain legal framework for citizens and businesses to thrive and contribute to economic growthsustainable prosperity; whereas, finally, this effort requires strong commitment to safeguard citizens’ rights, as taxpayers and consumers of financial services;
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Considers that national tax administrations should be better equipped with the adequate resources to better serve taxpayers and ensure compliance and that, in the context ofcollect revenues, enforce rules, facilitate taxpayers and ensure compliance; calls on Member States to commit, in light of the increased challenges of the digital transition,; this means proper commitment from Member States witho investment more in human resources, training, digital infrastructures and specialised personnel and equipment;
Amendment 64 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Calls on the Commission to explore in future legislative proposals how to simultaneously set the necessary technology that puts the newly adopted legislation in motion in such way that the technology is intrinsically linked to the correct implementing of the legislation;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Points out that adapting the IT capacities of tax authorities through new emerging technologies, such as potential distributed ledger technologies like blockchain or artificial intelligence, promises to foster intelligent, effective and efficient tax and administrative procedures, facilitate tax compliance by citizens and businesses, and increase the traceability and identification of taxable transactions in a globalised environment where cross- border transactions have increased; and ownership of tangible and intangible assets, especially above a certain threshold, in a globalised environment, and creates opportunities for better and fairer designed tax systems to tax equally mobile taxpayers and assets;
Amendment 72 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Highlights the need to identify the best ways to use technology to strengthen the analytical capacity of tax administrations (through better data analysis), to standardise data to reduce administrative burdens on SMEs and citizens, to ensure that taxation better reflects the business environment in the digital age and at the same time guarantees high levels of data protection;
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Calls on the Commission to set the area of coordinated action at EU level in terms of interoperability of the systems as regards standardisation of data and its automatic real-time sharing in across- border context; calls the Commission to provide for a common infrastructure that ensures automation of tax outcomes in a limited number of areas that are within the scope of already existing harmonisation – withholding taxes and VAT;
Amendment 77 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Calls on the Commission to promote an assessment of the different national policies regarding the combat against tax fraud and evasion in the field of crypto-assets, underlining best practices and potential loopholes, and taking advantage of cooperation platforms in the field of taxation, namely the Fiscalis programme; calls on the Commission and the Code of Conduct to tackle harmful tax practices in the area of crypto-assets in the EU leading to a race to the bottom;
Amendment 82 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Invites the Commission to continue evaluating the operational impact and tax governance aspects of blockchain technology, notably through the Fiscalis programme; notes that for blockchain technology to be effective a certain level of harmonisation of the underlying rules is needed;
Amendment 91 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Considers that crypto-assets must be subject to fair, transparent and effective taxation, in order to guarantee fair competition between businea level playing field between the tax treatment of assets in the area of financial services; understands that decisions on the taxation of crypto- assets lie with Member States, according to the Treatieand financial products and between financial services providers; invites authorities to consider a simplified tax treatment for occasional or small traders and small transactions; stands for an innovation- friendly environment in the digital single market, where entrepreneurs, SMEs and start-ups can thrive, generate growth, create jobs and contribute to economic recovery through tax revenues;
Amendment 98 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Acknowledges that the definition of the tax base for crypto-assets is one of the core issues for tax policy; notes that there is currently no internationally-agreed standard definition of crypto-assets and types of assets to be included; understands the need for such a definition as a main priority in the European legislative framework in order to guarantee a leading position for the Union at international level; understand the OECD,mandated by the G20, is working on a new global tax transparency framework to provide for the reporting and exchange of information with respect to crypto-assets;
Amendment 104 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Notes that each country tends to use their own terminology when designing their national regulatory solutions to crypto-assets, which could cause legal uncertainty for citizens and companies, at the same time emerge asbe a threat to the integrity of the European single market, open the door to harmful tax competition in the EU and be exploited to undermine existing international tax transparency such as the Common Reporting Standard;
Amendment 108 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Emphasises that the rapid growth of crypto-assets4 refers to the key question ofmakes it urgent to have rules in place defining the type of taxation to be applied, when a taxable event happens, and its valuation; _________________ 4 The economic size of the cryptocurrencies market was valued at EUR 2.2 trillion in May 2021, with a peak of EUR 2.5 trillion in October 2021 (Joint Research Centre of the Commission, 2021).
Amendment 114 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Calls on the Commission to consider the dimension of crypto-assets in the planned proposals for corpor, digitalisation and new technologies in all its future legislative proposals in the tax field; calls on Member States taxation legal instruments, namely the Business in Europe: Framework for Income Taxationo ambition to lead at international level on this front;
Amendment 116 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
Amendment 128 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Points out that the crypto-asset landscape is global andtax treatment of crypto-assets requires an international approach; understands, in this regard, the need to furwork lead by the OECD and ther negotiate ed to have a coordinaternational instruments on the matterd approach with the revision of the Common Reporting Standard;
Amendment 137 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Recalls that a fully integrated European single market requires a common approach on the taxation of crypto-assets, respecting competences defined by the Treaties; therefore calls on the Council, in its Economic and Financial Affairs Council formation,; therefore calls on the Council to initiate a structured dialogue with Parliament on this matter; calls also on the President of the Eurogroup to put forward a debate on the taxation of crypto-assets with the Finance Ministers of the Euro Area;
Amendment 141 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Believes that it is necessary to amend the scope of the Directive on Administrative Cooperation5 (DAC8) sto that European legislators can further assess if other categories of income and assets such as crypto-assets are to be includedreflect the future OECD recommendations and revisions of the Common Reporting Standards; calls on the Commission to put forward a legislative proposal as soon as the OECD has finalised its work; calls on the Commission to include in its future revision of DAC the adopted recommendations in the European Parliament’s DAC implementation report; calls on the Council to swiftly adopt these proposed changes; _________________ 5 Council Directive 2011/16/EU of 15 February 2011 on administrative cooperation in the field of taxation, OJ L 64, 11.3.2011, p. 1.
Amendment 145 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Calls on the Commission and national public authorities to ensure that blockchain technology develops inused to enforce rules or provide public services compliances with the rules on the processing of personal data, on cybersecurity and on anti-money laundering/combating the financing of terrorism;