EU exec suggests ID number for cross-border taxpayers

The EU's executive also floated the idea of a minimum legal penalty for tax evasion in all member states - one of a list of suggestions that officials said could become formal proposals later this year.

"One obstacle which our member states face is the variety of identification systems of taxpayers," Algirdas Semeta, the European Commissioner in charge of tax policy, told reporters.

"The faster you can access ... the needed information, the better you can tackle the problem."

Such a tax number would be used mainly by companies doing business across borders and would not be a universal tag for all EU citizens, said one official familiar with the idea.

"The idea is to find an agreement among member states to design the common identification number," said Semeta. "If we are able to agree on this ... this will improve the efficiency of the fight against tax fraud."

Officials said the report would be handed to EU leaders when they meet in Brussels on June 28-29.

"Member states should also be prepared to go the extra mile in terms of transparency, for example, by granting each other access to their national databases when relevant," said Semeta.

"We need to ensure that fraudsters have no place to hide within the EU. I believe that minimum EU sanctions for fraud and evasion should be explored."

(Reporting By John O'Donnell; Editing By Sebastian Moffett and Andrew Heavens)