23 June 2017

European Commission proposes new transparency rules for intermediaries

The European Commission (EC or Commission) published the Proposal for a Council Directive, amending Directive 2011/16/EU regarding mandatory automatic exchange of information in the field of taxation in relation to reportable cross-border arrangements (the proposal).The proposal imposes obligations on European Union (EU) tax consultants, banks, lawyers, and other intermediaries to disclose any cross-border arrangement that contains one or more features or "hallmarks" and meets a somewhat unclear main benefit test. The hallmarks include those around confidentiality or contingent fees used in other disclosure regimes, but also hallmarks such as deductible cross-border payments which are, for a list of reasons, not fully taxable where received, or the use of losses to reduce tax liability.

A Global Tax Alert, attached below, provides additional details.

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ATTACHMENT

Full text of Tax Alert 2017-1007

Document ID: 2017-1007