Sorainen’s tax expert Kärt Anna Maire Kelder spoke at a conference held in Tallinn on 7 September where tax experts, politicians, and scientists discussed the present conditions in the European tax law.
Kärt was a speaker on the panel that discussed the mandatory disclosure rules approval. Having been openly critical of the European Commission’s proposed rules, she was extensively quoted in the report of the conference compiled by the Brussels-based Agence Europe, a prominent source of information on EU matters.
“We anticipate several challenges”, Kelder was quoted as saying at the conference. As some professions are covered by the proposal and others are not, “this will create distortions on the market”, she explained.
Among several things that raise questions about the new regulation, Kärt pointed out that the proposal is based on “assumptions that there is a huge tax evasion taking place in the EU”. She also pointed out that the proposal runs counter to the free movement of capital and the freedom of establishment.
She concluded with a metaphor, stating that the proposal seemed to have been designed not to ask alcoholics if they had managed to kick their morning drinking habit, but to carry out an alcohol test on them every morning, Agence Europe said.
The aim of the conference for Estonia was to examine the current taxation of various new digital business models with the aim of initiating a debate on the need to amend the tax rules. According to the Estonian Justice Ministry, the amendment must take into account new forms and methods of entrepreneurship.
Sorainen was also among the supporters of the conference: the conference was organised by the Ministry of Finance in cooperation with the IBFD and with the support of the consulting firms PWC, E&Y, Deloitte, KPMG and the Sorainen law firm.
The conference broadcast can be viewed at the address https://www.youtube.com/user/Rahandusministeerium/live.
