First meeting of High Level Expert Group

Taxing the Digital Economy: First meeting of High Level Expert Group

Commissioner Algirdas Šemeta today opened the first meeting of the High Level Expert Group on Digital Taxation. The question of how best to tax the digital economy has become a pressing one, particularly in the clamp down on corporate tax avoidance. It has become clear that taxation needs to be re-aligned to support the growth of this sector, while at the same time ensuring that digital companies pay their fair share.

Chaired by Vitor Gaspar, former Portuguese Finance Minister, the Expert Group will identify the key problems with digital taxation from an EU perspective, and present possible solutions. The Commission will then develop any EU initiatives necessary to improve the tax framework for the digital sector in Europe. Given the pace at which the digital economy is developing, a taxation response needs to be rapidly implemented.

Therefore, the expert group should report back to the Commission by summer 2014. In parallel, the EU will continue to contribute actively to the work underway at global level in this sphere, within the context of the OECD's project on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS). The aim is to ensure a coherent and complementary approach to digital taxation at EU and international level.

For full list of members of the Digital Taxation Expert Group, see: MEMO/13/1042
For Commissioner Šemeta's speech on Taxing the Digital Economy, see: SPEECH/13/791