CECOP supports the Commission's BEFIT proposal to develop a single European corporate tax law (COM/2023/532 final) based on the fundamental principles of a common tax base. However, it draws attention to a number of issues, the economic components that risk leading to unequal treatment of social economy actors and cooperatives concern in particular:

  1. profits generated by cooperatives and allocated to the statutory activity or assets and never distributable to the members, not even after the dissolution of the cooperative (so- called “indivisible reserves”)
  2. cooperative benefits or dividends, which are also provided by Article 66, Council Regulation (EC) 1435/2003 of 22 July 2003 on the Statute for a European Cooperative Society (SCE) (“The statutes may provide for the payment of a dividend to members in proportion to their business with the SCE, or the services they have performed for it”)

 

Therefore, CECOP urges the Commission to adapt and amend the rules on the regime of non-distributed profits and that on deductible expenses in order to take into account the specific nature and particular objectives pursued by cooperatives, distinguishing them appropriately from multinationals and other profit-making enterprises.

 

Read our full reaction and amendment proposal here