The coronavirus crisis has given us an exceptional opportunity to make large changes to tax systems to produce a more sustainable economy. All parties must work together to build sustainable tax systems – an essential component to sustainable economic growth. This publication proposes recommendations for business and governments to achieve this objective:

Businesses and their advisors should be prepared to play their part in the recovery, acknowledging governments’ roles in their survival and adapting their tax policy to new societal expectations. These include enhanced transparency, forsaking abusive tax practices, and working with tax authorities in a cooperative manner.

Governments should consider the adequacy of their current tax systems and, after a thorough analysis, consider whether they should broaden their tax base, put increasing emphasis on certain forms of taxation or introduce new taxes.

Next to these more long-term measures, our accompanying paper Short-term tax measures: Supporting businesses through the Coronacrisis, highlights direct and indirect tax measures that governments should consider in the short term.