Would Member States conduct joint audits of participating SMEs?
The general rules for mutual assistance and administrative co-operation between EU Member States should apply and should be used. Moreover, the tax authorities of the interested Member States should, if this is considered necessary, form joint audit teams for auditing the lead company and group members. The audits should be allowed to be carried out by the joint team in all premises covered by the Home State group, but be strictly limited to those aspects governed by the pilot scheme. In the event of litigation it would be logical, in the Commission’s view, to apply, in principle, the rules of the residence state of a “Home State group” member company. It seems difficult to envisage another solution that does not infringe the Member States’ respective national laws.
