The commitment of the Association to the theme of taxes is determined every year by the Tax Affairs Committee, with the help of the VAT Sounding Board Group. At the national level, the Association is discussing the future of the tax profit determination for life insurers and improving the unity of policy and implementation of the Tax and Customs Administration.

In addition, the Association is alert to any adjustments to the insurance premium tax. This applies both to the percentage and the way in which it is levied. The latter is relevant, for example, for composite products (such as travel insurance) that are partly subject to insurance premium tax and partly not. The Association also looks at the relationship between the insurance premium tax and VAT.

International developments
At the international level, there are several developments that affect how insurers should deal with taxes:

• Base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS). For this scheme, which is intended to prevent tax avoidance, the Association has drawn attention to the consequences for holding companies that do not have an insurance licence, but play an essential role with regard to insurance business. The Association wants the rules that (will) apply to every other company to also apply to (the consolidated group of) an insurer in a country.
  
  
• Loss Absorbing Capacity of Deferred Taxes (LAC-DT). European regulations lay down how an insurer determines the loss compensation capacity of deferred taxes (LAC-DT). Loss compensation for deferred taxes may reduce an insurer's Solvency Capital Requirement, provided that the insurer can demonstrate that sufficient profits are available to use the deferred tax assets. It is up to the insurer to substantiate how the loss compensation capital of deferred taxes reduces the Solvency Capital Requirement. The Association is discussing with DNB the way in which insurers carry out this substantiation. During the evaluation of Solvency II, the extent to which LAC-DT can be included in the determination of the solvency requirement will be examined, whereby the Association believes that the loss compensation capital should be taken into account as broadly as possible.
  
  
• Financial Transaction Tax (FTT). FTT is a European tax on transactions in financial markets. Several European countries have been negotiating about this for several years. The Netherlands is not participating in these negotiations. The Association is not in favour of this legislation, in particular because of the infringement of the European 'level playing field'. The Association is also alert to the details of the regulation, whereby possible exceptions can also ensure an uneven playing field.