The impact of the European Community and European Community law on taxation is becoming increasingly important. EC law influences not only national tax law but also tax treaties. This book focuses on the question of whether anti-abuse provisions in tax treaties may be in conflict with EC law, especially the fundamental freedoms contained in the EC Treaty. This issue is dealt with from the perspective of Austria, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom. Though most problems arise with regard to the limitation on benefits clauses contained in the tax treaties concluded between EC Member States and the United States, the book also addresses the compatibility with EC law of other anti-abuse clauses and assesses the consequences of a possible conflict. EUCOTAX (European Universities Cooperating on Taxes) is a network of fiscal institutes of European universities - nine in 1998. This network aims at initiating and co-ordinating both comparative education and comparative research on taxation. The comparative education is structured by various means, e.g. organizing winter courses and guest lectures. Comparative research is realised by means of joint research projects, international conferences and exchange of researchers from various countries.

Depending on the goals to be achieved, there are many ways to calculate a company's profits. This is to a great extent due to the different aims of financial and tax accounting. Financial accounting is undergoing a growing influence of IAS/IFRS. IFRS is also exerting a growing influence on tax accounting. This is especially visible in the European development of a Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB) for multinational corporate entities. Although no formal link exists between IAS/IFRS and CCCTB, IFRS will likely be a strong material influence on various key elements of the CCCTB. Many tax professionals (and Member States) fear the influence of IAS/IFRS on tax accounting mainly given the divergent aims of IAS/IFRS and tax accounting. The introduction of IAS/IFRS will have significant consequences for tax accounting, disclosure and corporate law accounting concepts in individual Member States. Since IAS/IFRS is strongly influenced by the Anglo-American view on accounting, a question arises regarding its potential influence on the various continental disclosure, tax and financial accounting systems. In other words, one can readily envision a confrontation of systems with totally different backgrounds. This insightful work focuses on the consequences of this 'clash of cultures' for tax accounting, disclosure and corporate law accounting concepts.

This work examines the extent to which income taxation is influenced by the issue of environmental protection in EU Member States. Reports from seven countries belonging to the EUCOTAX (European Universities Cooperating on Taxes) network - Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom - investigate the relationship between environmental policy and direct taxation. The analysis covers two broad issues: the measure incorporated into personal and corporate income tax regimes to stimulate environmental protection, and the treatment of fiscal liabilities with respect to environmental legislation. The work is part of a project supported by the European Commission and the London Institute for Public Policy Research, aimed at stimulating debate about environmental tax reform in Europe. The project was coordinated by Professor Tulio Rosembuj of the University of Barcelona and Professor Peter Essers of Tilburg University, The Netherlands.