Leicester research supports European Parliament legislation on aggressive corporate tax planning

A Leicester academic has been at the heart of the European Parliament's attempts to introduce reforms to curb aggressive tax planning and avoidance by multinational enterprises.

Dr Robert Dover of the Department of Politics and International Relations produced with colleagues two reports for the European Parliament, published in October 2015 and January 2016, that explored the political and economic impact of avoidance practices by multinational enterprises, and to quantify the scale of losses being suffered by governments across Europe through these practices.

On Monday 20 June, the European Council passed the Directive concerning aggressive tax planning and avoidance that was the result of the European Parliament's inquiries and the research submitted by Dr Dover and his colleagues. This research is now part of the European Parliament's 'Top Stories' and their core avoidance figure is used and showcased on the European Parliament's flagship page.