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Luxembourg – No Agreement on EU Draft Anti-Tax Avoidance

By June 20, 2016July 10th, 2021No Comments

At the ECOFIN meeting on 25th May, the EU Finance Ministers were not able to reach an agreement on the amended draft EU directive laying down rules against certain tax avoidance practices…

At the ECOFIN meeting on 25th May, the EU Finance Ministers were not able to reach an agreement on the amended draft EU directive laying down rules against certain tax avoidance practices.

Even though this amended version was already a compromise text attempting to take into account the various concerns raised by many EU Member States during their technical discussions over the past months, there was still strong disagreement among many Member States on several of the measures to be introduced.

The compromise text presented contained a package of 6 provisions for anti-tax avoidance rules to be implemented by 31 December 2018 at the latest and applicable from 1 January 2019. The aim of these measures is, among others, to implement the BEPS recommendations made by OECD and G20 in October 2015 at EU level.

The plan is still to reach an agreement before the end of the Dutch Presidency (30 June 2016). However, given the numerous opposing positions held by some Member States on several of the measures, it remains to be seen how reaching a unanimous decision so soon will be possible.

Another important element of the meeting was the formal adoption of the directive on the exchange of tax-related information on multinational companies by the EU Council. The aim of this directive is to implement the recommendations made in the BEPS Action 13 report on country-by-country reporting. The very controversial proposal to require publication of country-by-country reporting is still under discussion.

 

Keith O’Donnell and Samantha Merl
ATOZ Tax Advisers