EU proposes unified tax rules for companies

The aim was an equitable and stable business environment that would underpin economic growth and employment.

The European Commission also proposed that certain large companies operating in the EU should publish their effective tax rates to ensure greater transparency.

Another aim of the new regulations is to address the debt-equity bias in the current tax rules, which treats debt financing of companies more favourably than equity financing.

"This proposal will aim to encourage companies to finance their activities through equity rather than turning to debt”, the commission said.

At the same time, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is to agree in June on global rules on where to tax large multinational corporations like Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple or Microsoft and at what effective minimum rate.

The deal is aimed at stopping governments competing with each other by lowering tax rates to attract investment.