EU states agree on clamp-down on accountants helping aggressive tax planning

BRUSSELS: European Union finance ministers agreed on Tuesday new measures to force accountants and banks to report aggressive tax schemes that help companies shift profits to low-tax countries, in a bid to tackle tax avoidance.

"We have adopted" the new rules, Bulgaria's finance minister Vladislav Goranov told a public session of a meeting in which all ministers supported the overhaul.

Information on harmful tax planning will also be shared among the 28 EU states.