General Report – An Analysis of Anti-Tax Avoidance Approaches in Nine European Countries: An Update to the Conclusions of the First Meeting of the European Association of Tax Law Professors in 1999

In this General Report, as well as the accompanying country reports, the authors revisit a 1999 European Taxation article discussing tax avoidance, which stemmed from the first European Association of Tax Law Professors meeting. The authors explore shifts in tax avoidance perception due to the introduction of the treaty general anti-avoidance rule (GAAR) (principal purpose test), EU GAAR and specific anti-avoidance rules post-BEPS and the two OECD Pillars. Using eight 1999 cases for comparison, it provides a fresh empirical perspective on tax avoidance in Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.