New EU legislation closes tax loopholes for businesses

Legal tax-saving schemes employed by corporations such as Apple, Amazon, Google and Starbucks have increased pressure on EU legislators to create laws to close such loopholes, with EU finance ministers inking new tax rules on Tuesday. The new rules, scheduled to go into effect from 2020, should help the EU recoup revenues from companies that slash their tax bills through declaring their profits in countries with low or no taxation. Slovak Finance Minister Peter Kažimír praised the move, linking its success to efforts made during Slovakia's six month Presidency of the EU Council. "These tax discrepancies and inconsistencies in tax legislation allow loopholes through which enormous resources escape. So, thanks to these initiatives, we firmly believe that we'll be able to use them for the benefit of reducing the tax burden for companies and individuals, or for the benefit of higher quality public services," said Kažimír.