UKIP opposes transfer of tax powers to the EU

The eurofanatical LibLabCon have been criticising UKIP for voting against an EU Parliament report entitled "Fight against Tax Fraud, Tax Evasion and Tax Havens".  They say that it means UKIP is supporting tax evasion.

UKIP is absolutely committed to combating tax fraud and evasion but not by giving the EU control over our tax system, harmonising tax rules across the EU and giving EU institutions access to our tax records which is what the report - supported by the Tories, Labour and the Lib Dems - calls for.

Here are just a few of the 75 resolutions in the report that UKIP voted against:

Emphasises that the EU should take the leading role in discussions on the fight against tax fraud, tax avoidance and tax havens in the OECD, the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of information for Tax Purposes, the G20, the G8 and other relevant multinational fora;

Considers it of paramount importance that Member States authorise the Commission to negotiate tax agreements with third countries on behalf of the EU instead of continuing with the practice of bilateral negotiations producing sub-optimal results from the point of view of the EU as a whole and often also of the Member State concerned;

Calls on the Commission to propose common standards for tax treaties between Member States and developing countries

Welcomes the US Foreign Account Tax compliance Act (FATCA) as a first step towards an automatic exchange of information between the EU and the US to fight trans-border tax fraud and tax evasion; regrets, however, that a bilateral/intergovernmental approach has been taken in the negotiations with the US rather than a common EU negotiating position;

Asks the Commission to study the possibility of introducing European taxation on cross-border business models and electronic commerce;

Calls on the Member States to remove all obstacles in national law that hinder cooperation and exchanges of tax information with the EU institutions and within the Member States, while also ensuring effective protection of taxpayers’ data;

Calls on the Commission to carry out an in-depth study into the difference, in the Member States, between legal and actual corporation tax rates in order to ensure that the debate on fiscal harmonisation is based on objective data;

Calls for a common EU approach towards tax havens;

So the Tories, Labour and the Lib Dems have all voted for the EU to take the place of the British government in discussions on tax fraud and evasion, for direct EU taxation, for the harmonisation of our tax system with the rest of the EU, to share taxpayer data automatically with the rest of the EU and to have the EU take over from the British government in concluding treaties relating to taxation.

In fact, the Tories haven't just supported it, David Cameron has led the campaign for the report to approved and wants to take it to the G8.  What a mockery this makes of Cameron's pledges to negotiate a new, less intrusive and dictatorial relationship with the EU and surely transferring all these powers to the EU will need a referendum under the impotent and useless EU Act?