“Member States will have to accept that the CCCTB cannot replicate all the features of all their existing tax bases, and will in some cases propose a different treatment of specific items from their existing base.” – European Commission Communication on CCCTB.

Despite extensive submissions by Ireland and other Member States, the European Commission issued a Communication on Wednesday 2 May on the progress made during 2006 on the CCCTB and the next steps towards making a formal proposal on CCCTB in 2008.

The Department of Finance has reiterated its view on the CCCTB in its response titled “Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base – Ireland's Position”-“our position on the CCCTB is well known. We do not favour it for reasons of principle and practicality.”

ICAI has been vocal in its opposition to the CCCTB. At this stage we would ask all business organisations in Ireland to get involved in the debate.

A copy of the Commission Communication is available at http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/resources/documents/common/whats_new/ccctb_en.pdf and the Department of Finance statement (which we first brought to your attention in Section 1.03 of the March edition of tax.point) is available at http://www.finance.gov.ie/viewdoc.asp?Docid=4543.

The German presidency held an International Tax Conference on the development of “a simple and transparent tax base”, better known to you and I as CCCTB, in Berlin on 15 and 16 May. While there has been coverage in the press on the conference, the results of the conference have not been published yet. We will keep you informed of any developments.