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The correct functioning of the European Union Single Market requires the elimination of discriminatory or protective internal taxation of goods. This paper aims to provide an overview of developments in indirect tax harmonization within the European Union (EU).

The approach is to provide a history of tax harmonization and a description of the present functioning of the system within the EU.

The paper illustrates that through partial harmonization of indirect taxes (value‐added tax and excise duties) the EU has reached a considerable degree of fiscal neutrality. The attitudes of Member States suggest that closer harmonization (or even unification) of tax rates may not be considered.

The paper provides a summary of the progress of tax harmonization in the EU.

The purpose of this research paper is to underscore that harmonization of laws, much as it might not offer a lasting cure of tax avoidance and other forms of financial crimes, can enhance the fight against it and subsequently help to forestall it. Tax avoidance has remained an intractable challenge and costs governments astronomical sums of money, largely because taxation is a sensitive issue in the realm of sovereign national jurisdictions. The first part of this paper involves a review of empirical data on tax avoidance to create a context for evaluating theoretical issues on tax avoidance and how they are manifested in practice. It draws examples in a cross-jurisdictional perspective given the global character of tax avoidance and evasion as financial crimes. The last part of this paper discusses possible recommendations that could be implemented to tackle tax avoidance and its attendant challenges on economies.

The author has carried out a scoping review of the literature on tax avoidance and myriad of ways used to commit it globally. There was a wealth of data on tax avoidance, evasion, money laundering and harmonization of laws, which was reviewed and applied in undertaking this study. These data were sourced from published academic books, journal articles and online data sources/websites. This paper reflects on and internalizes most recent empirical data on tax avoidance and evasion such as unprecedented leak of millions of files from the database of the world’s fourth biggest offshore law firm, Mossack Fonseca – the so-called “Panama papers”, which has revealed the extent of tax avoidance globally. It also goes an extra length (literally speaking) to underscore important measures that ought to be introduced to address tax avoidance, evasion and money laundering once and for all.

The findings of this paper confirm that while harmonization of law has its inherent shortcomings, it is necessary to enhance individual state’s ability to deal with overlapping interstate challenges such as tax avoidance. This paper proffers a thorough analysis of tax avoidance, the varied context in which it is manifested with a view to evaluate measures that could be adopted by states to minimize or forestall it globally.

This paper has used data on tax avoidance and cognate areas in underscoring inherent challenges in current measures against tax avoidance globally. There were not many studies carried out on the role of harmonization in bolstering states’ efforts against tax avoidance and other financial crimes.

Paying taxes or avoiding paying it has a direct bearing on people, societies and national governments. It is therefore important that states adopt measures to curtail tax avoidance – because it costs governments a lot of revenue.

Though studies have been conducted on tax avoidance and cognate areas, this paper articulates that harmonization could greatly enhance the fight against it globally. This paper will appeal to tax authorities, banks, governments, policy makers, oversight financial institutions and those who have a vested interest in regulation of financial crimes globally.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the interrelationship between corporate income tax (CIT) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) within the international framework of the European Union (EU).

The theoretical framework of the paper is based on taxation and social responsibility theories that evaluate the impact of economic, financial and social decisions taken by firms, in the area of accounting and tax harmonization in general, and of corporate income tax, in particular.

Through the connection of CIT and CSR frameworks, the paper urges for more accountability and shows that, as each EU Member State improves accounting and taxation harmonization, the result is more comparability of economic and financial information presented by the firm.

The paper attempts to provide an understanding of the adoption of the social responsibility posture of firms as a key factor that negatively and positively influences the tax regime of each EU Member State. In a social responsibility, accounting and taxation transnational framework, the increasing of a firm's activity and changes in its environment require new attitudes of sustainable development.

The paper is the first to discuss the interrelationship between CIT and CSR within the international framework of the EU. Corporate income tax can be seen as the mechanism by which governments encourage active civic duty, corporate sponsorship and CSR practices.

This article identifies major public financial management developments in the European Community (EC). Despite a certain degree of disparity, the EC member countries have had a number of common developments in public financial management. In general, central governments of most EC member countries were faced with resource constraints, growing spending demands and large budget deficits. Moreover, fiscal changes had to be made in order to reach the single European market goal targeted by 1992. Thus, several fiscal policy and management initiatives were developed including tax reforms, changes in spending programs, improve-ments of government performance, and fiscal harmonization. The results of these initiatives are reflected in the patterns of central government receipts and outlays in the EC member countries.

The European Commission is attempting to harmonise taxes in the European Community but little progress has been made to date with the exception of indirect taxation. The diversity reflects the historic differences in the economic and social structures of the member states and it is shown that wide ranging fundamental differences in tax systems remain. The main differences in tax systems, rates, bases, in approach to foreign shareholders and in business incentives are described and the problems of such disparities existing post‐1992 are highlighted.

Aim of the present monograph is the economic analysis of the role of MNEs regarding globalisation and digital economy and in parallel there is a reference and examination of some legal aspects concerning MNEs, cyberspace and e‐commerce as the means of expression of the digital economy. The whole effort of the author is focused on the examination of various aspects of MNEs and their impact upon globalisation and vice versa and how and if we are moving towards a global digital economy.

This paper aims to articulate the complexities posed by tax havens and offshore financial centres (OFCs) in the global fight against financial crimes such as tax avoidance and money laundering. It suggests possible measures to mitigate the effect of tax avoidance on economic development of countries, especially less developed poor countries.

Data were evaluated using examples and case studies drawn from tax havens and OFCs in newspaper reports to demonstrate how illicit proceeds of crime are spirited out of countries for safe custody in tax haven jurisdictions around the globe. The author also carried out a scoping review of the literature to delineate the correlation between tax havens, OFCs and the growth in financial crimes such as tax avoidance and money laundering.

There is a close correlation that bank secrecy laws in OFCs fuel the growth of financial crimes such as tax avoidance and money laundering around the globe. The findings also suggest that while imposition of sanctions on countries which transgress international financial regulatory regimes is an essential component in the international efforts against financial crimes, they need to be enforced on all states so that they are not seen as politicized and subsequently undermined.

It is important that states work in tandem to initiate desired regimes to address financial crimes but enunciating regimes alone cannot generate a far reaching impact unless they are enforced against all transgressing states.

The paper has practical implications for states, people, governments, oversight institutions, markets and other stakeholders because it unravels varied issues relating to tax avoidance, money laundering and policies that need to be adopted to address these challenges.

The paper draws attention to the impact of asymmetric information and data generation capacity in some countries on tax avoidance and other financial crimes and the need for international harmonization of tax and AML regimes.

The issues explored in this paper help to highlight the challenges posed by tax havens and OFCs for economic development of countries. While the paper was undertaken by the review of primary and secondary data, it offers important contributions that could potentially enhance the fight against tax avoidance.

This chapter examines the ethics and business diplomacy of legal tax avoidance by multinational enterprises (MNEs).

The methodology assembles the relevant literature and examines alternative interpretations of corporate tax strategy. Key topics include business ethics and responsibility, business sustainability, economic patriotism and corporate inversions, tax havens, and possible solutions.

The debate concerns whether legal tax avoidance is unethical and/or poor business diplomacy. There are three possible strategies for MNEs. One strategy is intentional tax avoidance. Another strategy is business–government negotiation concerning tax liability. Another strategy is business diplomacy aimed at maximizing the social legitimacy of the firm across multiple national tax jurisdictions.

The chapter assesses four possible solutions for corporate tax avoidance. One solution is voluntary tax payments beyond legal obligations whether out of a sense of ethics or a strategy of business diplomacy. A second solution is international tax cooperation and tax harmonization in ways that minimize opportunities for tax avoidance. A third solution is increased stakeholder pressure emphasizing business diplomacy and tax cooperation and harmonization. The fourth solution is negotiated tax liabilities between each business and each jurisdiction.

The chapter provides an original systematic survey of the key aspects of corporate international tax avoidance in an approach in which business ethics and business diplomacy are better integrated. The value of the chapter is that it provides information and assembles relevant literature concerning corporate international tax avoidance, and addresses possible solutions for this problem.