The EU Gets It Wrong on Corporate Taxes - Bloomberg View

The EU Gets It Wrong on Corporate Taxes - Bloomberg View



Tax shopping is popular within Europe, too. Effective corporate tax rates in Europe have come down to about 18.6 percent from 27.2 percent in 2004; the rate varies from country to country and even within countries. France's corporate income tax rate, for example, is 34.4 percent, among the highest in the world. But the effective tax rate for the largest companies in the CAC40 (a French stock market index) is actually only 8 percent, while it is 22 percent for small and medium-sized enterprises. Such a byzantine system favors firms that can afford the time and expense required to navigate it.