ABSTRACT
Direct taxation the taxes paid on personal income, corporate profits and investment capital is a sovereign responsibility of each member state. European Union (EU) tax legislation has almost exclusively concerned indirect taxation: customs duties on the one hand, and Value Added Tax (VAT) and excise duties on the other. The other form of indirect taxation which member states have continued to levy is excise duty on certain specific products, such as alcoholic drinks, manufactured tobacco and fuels. A strong impetus to harmonise indirect tax rates came in 1985 with the adoption of a specific target date for completing the single market. For excise duties, the commission proposed a complete harmonisation, and specified a precise amount of duty for all products attracting excise duty. Procedures for paying VAT on cross-border transactions within the EU were set out in the VAT directive, adopted by the Council of Ministers in November 2006. On December 8th 2015, tax avoidance by multinational corporations.
