EU Pushes Common Corporate Tax Base, Challenging Ireland

European Union regulators revived a push to create a common base for calculating the taxable profits of companies, recommending a system that would be optional for businesses in a bid to win over opponents including Ireland.

The European Commission proposed a single method for calculating income to save companies the cost of complying with different rules in each EU country where they file a return. Tax rates would remain in national hands under the draft law on a common consolidated corporate tax base, or CCCTB, which the commission says would save companies 700 million euros ($977 million) a year in compliance costs.