COMMENT Businesses should wake up to the fact that, if work to harmonise European Union tax systems succeeds, they will face huge uncertainty regarding their tax liabilities, pay higher tax bills and face a more rigid corporate tax regime.
Lázsló Kovács, the tax commissioner, is firmly set on introducing a legislative proposal by the end of 2008 to harmonise the corporate tax base across the Union. Over the past three years, substantial Commission and member state resources have been devoted to achieving this end and the German government, which currently holds the EU presidency, is hosting a conference on the issue in Berlin today.
