De Europese Commissie heeft richtlijnvoorstel DEBRA, de 'debt-equity bias reduction allowance', gepubliceerd. DEBRA heeft als doel bedrijven aan te moedigen te investeren met eigen vermogen in plaats van vreemd vermogen.
De huidige voorkeur voor schulden in fiscale wetgeving, waarbij bedrijven rente op schuldfinanciering in de vennootschapsbelasting kunnen aftrekken, maar niet de kosten die verband houden met financiering met eigen vermogen, kan bedrijven ertoe aanzetten schulden op te bouwen. Het voorstel van de commissie voert een aftrek in voor bedrijven die investeringen financieren met eigen vermogen. Belastingplichtige bedrijven mogen volgens het voorstel een toename van het eigen vermogen aftrekken van hun heffingsgrondslag, zoals dat ook bij vreemd vermogen gebeurt. Ook bevat het voorstel antimisbruikmaatregelen om oneigenlijk gebruik te voorkomen.
Reactie van Paolo Gentiloni, Commissioner for Economy: “In these dark and uncertain times, we must act not only to help our companies cope with their immediate challenges, but also to support their future development. Today we are taking action to make the tax advantages of equity comparable to those of debt for firms wanting to raise capital. We want to give a shot in the arm to innovative start-ups and SMEs throughout the EU. This harmonised solution to the debt-equity bias will make Europe's business environment more predictable and competitive, spurring the development of our capital markets union. Our proposal will help companies build up more solid capital, making them less vulnerable and more likely to invest and take risks. And that will be good news for jobs and growth in Europe.”
In de Q&A wordt uitgelegd hoe DEBRA werkt:
The equity allowance would be computed based on the difference between net equity at the end of the current tax year and net equity at the end of the previous tax year, multiplied by a notional interest rate. This means that the allowance would be granted only for the sum of equity increases over a specific year.
The notional interest rate is the 10-year risk-free interest rate for the relevant currency, and increased by a risk premium of 1% or, in the case of SMEs, a risk premium of 1,5%.
The allowance on equity is deductible for 10 consecutive tax years, as long as it does not exceed 30% of the taxpayer's taxable income.
Moreover, if the allowance on equity is higher than the taxpayer's net taxable income, the taxpayer may carry forward the excess of allowance on equity without a time limitation.
Taxpayers will also be able to carry forward their unused allowance on equity which exceeds the 30% of taxable income, for a maximum of 5 tax years.
Lastly, the proposal introduces a reduction of debt interest deductibility by 15%, so to better mitigate the debt-equity bias, not only from the equity side but also from the debt side.
Bron: Europese Commissie
Informatiesoort: Nieuws