ISSN 1725-7565 (PDF) ISSN 1725-7557 (Printed) TAXATION PAPERS Study WORKING PAPER N. 61 – 2015 on Structures Ramboll Management Consulting and Corit Advisory of Aggressive Tax Planning and Indicators Final Report Taxation and Customs Union Taxation Papers are written by the staff of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union, or by experts working in association with them. Taxation Papers are intended to increase awareness of the work being done by the staff and to seek comments and suggestions for further analyses. These papers often represent preliminary work, circulated to encourage discussion and comment. Citation and use of such a paper should take into account of its provisional character. The views expressed in the Taxation Papers are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission. 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PRINTED ON WHITE CHLORINE-FREE PAPER Study on Structures of Aggressive Tax Planning and Indicators - Final Report - Specific contract No. 13 under FWC TAXUD/2012/CC116 European Commission Study on Structures of Aggressive Tax Planning and Indicators Date 23.12.2015 Prepared by Henrik Meldgaard; Jakob Bundgaard; Katja Dyppel Weber; Alexandru Floristean; national tax experts (full list attached) Checked by Xavier Le Den Approved by Henrik Stener Pedersen Version Final Report The information and views set out in this report are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of the Commission. The Commission does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this study. Neither the Commission nor any person acting on the Commission’s behalf may be held responsible for the use which may be made of the information contained therein. European Commission Study on Structures of Aggressive Tax Planning and Indicators Table of Contents List of Abbreviations and Acronyms................................................................ 5 Abstract <EN> ................................................................................................ 6 Abstract <FR> ................................................................................................ 6 Executive Summary <EN> .............................................................................. 7 Sommaire <FR> ........................................................................................... 11 1. Introduction ....................................................................................... 15 1.1 Policy background ...................................................................................15 1.2 Purpose of the study ...............................................................................16 1.3 Scope of the study ..................................................................................17 1.4 Overall approach ....................................................................................18 1.5 Content of the report ..............................................................................19 2. ATP Structures .................................................................................... 21 2.1 Methodological considerations ..................................................................21 2.2 Model ATP structures ...............................................................................25 3. ATP Indicators .................................................................................... 51 3.1 Methodological considerations ..................................................................51 3.2 Overview of ATP indicators .......................................................................54 3.3 Description of the ATP Indicators ..............................................................57 4. Screening of Member States ............................................................... 68 4.1 Methodological considerations ..................................................................68 4.2 Assessment of the Member States ............................................................69 5. General observations and policy implications ................................... 144 5.1 Number and categories of indicators observed .......................................... 144 5.2 Common findings across Member States .................................................. 144 Appendix 1: Questionnaires for each MS .................................................... 148 Appendix 2: Overview of ATP Indicators .................................................... 149 Appendix 3: List of national tax experts ..................................................... 152 Appendix 4: List of literature ...................................................................... 153 Appendix 5: Role of third-country jurisdictions .......................................... 162 December 2015 — 3 European Commission Study on Structures of Aggressive Tax Planning and Indicators List of Tables Table 1: List of abbreviations and acronyms ....................................................................... 5 Table 2: Indicators resulting from Structure 1 ................................................................... 29 Table 3: Indicators resulting from Structure 2 ................................................................... 34 Table 4: Indicators resulting from Structure 3 ................................................................... 37 Table 5: Indicators resulting from Structure 4 ................................................................... 40 Table 6: Indicators resulting from Structure 5 ................................................................... 43 Table 7: Indicators resulting from Structure 6 ................................................................... 46 Table 8: Indicators resulting from Structure 7 ................................................................... 50 Table 9: ATP indicator categorization and explanations ....................................................... 52 Table 10: List of ATP indicators ........................................................................................ 55 Table 11: Austria: Overview ............................................................................................ 70 Table 12: Belgium: Overview .......................................................................................... 73 Table 13: Bulgaria: Overview .......................................................................................... 76 Table 14: Croatia: Overview ............................................................................................ 78 Table 15: Cyprus: Overview ............................................................................................ 80 Table 16: Czech Republic: Overview ................................................................................. 83 Table 17: Denmark: Overview ......................................................................................... 85 Table 18: Estonia: Overview ............................................................................................ 86 Table 19: Finland: Overview ............................................................................................ 89 Table 20: France: Overview ............................................................................................ 92 Table 21: Germany: Overview ......................................................................................... 95 Table 22: Greece: Overview ............................................................................................ 97 Table 23: Hungary: Overview .......................................................................................... 99 Table 24: Ireland: Overview .......................................................................................... 102 Table 25: Italy: Overview ............................................................................................. 105 Table 26: Latvia: Overview ........................................................................................... 109 Table 27: Lithuania: Overview ....................................................................................... 112 Table 28: Luxembourg: