In a letter to the European Commission on Monday 20 April, ten European organisations representing the financial industry, including the European Banking Federation, ESBG, Insurance Europe, EFAMA and AFME, called for an extension of time "until 2021" for tax information reporting obligations under the 'DAC6' Directive (2018/822) due to additional challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Adopted in March 2018, the 'DAC6' Directive makes it mandatory for tax intermediaries to transmit to tax administrations the aggressive tax planning schemes they prepare, when these schemes involve two Member States or a Member State and a non-Member State (see EUROPE 11980/1). It is due to come into force on 1 July, with the start of reporting set for 31 August.
The industry argues in its letter that many Member States had not finalised their national transposition measures before the outbreak of the pandemic, which risks further slowing down the process. It refers in particular to the initiation, at the end of January, of infringement proceedings against 15 countries - Belgium, Cyprus, Spain, Estonia, France, Italy, Greece, Luxembourg, Latvia, Poland, Portugal, Czech Republic, Romania, Sweden, United Kingdom - for failing to communicate their national measures transposing the Directive.
In addition, the organisations believe that an assessment of the situation could be made in September to see if a further extension is required.
See the letter: https://bit.ly/2RWJ7YK (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)