One of the greatest hurdles for businesses wishing to expand their operations to the other side of the border in cross border regions has historically been the red tape associated with the different taxation systems between different countries. This has detered a significant number of businesses, especially SMEs from tapping markets that might be even closer than those they actually serve inside their country of operations! Multinationals also suffer from the same issue regardless of their financial and organisational capacities to overcome these hurdles. The situation represents a significant lost opportunity for those that do not engage in cross border activities and increased costs in terms of manpower, time and money for those that do.

Thats why the recent news that the commission has adopted initiatives that produced the BEFIT and HOT proposals for simpler tax rules to cut red tape for cross-border businesses in the EU, are a very welcome development. The proposals refer to both multinationals and SMEs and could prove valuable for cross border entities.

You can read more about BEFIT and HOT in the official commission newsletter.