The government will be unable to introduce tax breaks for companies looking to invest in the UK until long after the withdrawal from the EU is complete, according to Germany’s finance minister Wolfgang Schauble
Schauble claimed that G20 rules on tax avoidance would limit the UK’s ability to offer tax breaks to companies, even after it left the EU, in an interview with the Financial Times.
The German minister said that the UK would be required to abide by international rules on investment incentives, pointing out that as a member of the G20 there was an ongoing commitment to limiting tax avoidance, which would impact the ability to grant tax breaks.
‘These rules apply to all whether EU members or not. The UK is still a member of the EU and it is a country which has always upheld the valid regulations, valid laws and valid treaties,’ Schauble said.
In addition, Schauble maintained that the UK would have to pay for EU budget bills for more than a decade.
‘Until the UK’s exit is complete, Britain will certainly have to fulfil its commitments,” he said. 'Possibly there will be some commitments that last beyond the exit … even, in part, to 2030 … Also we cannot grant any generous rebates,’ he said.
