The survey underpinning this invaluable work was inspired by an increasing appreciation within the EU of the need to achieve some degree of direct tax harmony. The essential starting point for such an undertaking is a set of standardized rules for the computation of EU-wide income. Company law developments point to the International Accounting Standards (IAS) / International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) financial statements as a basis from which to work. IFRS are now required for published group accounts and are allowed for single-company financial statements. However, as explained in the text, there are serious drawbacks to basing any form of national taxation on IFRS as they stand. IFRS are not designed with tax policy objectives in mind and change too frequently to satisfy any claim to tax legal certainty. Public debate is hampered by a general lack of knowledge of tax accounting customs in other countries...