Council Directive (EU) 2020/876 of 24 June 2020

What it is

to address the urgent need to extend certain time limits for filing and exchange of information in the area of taxation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the Council adopts the act after consulting the European Parliament but without being obliged to follow its opinion. BACKGROUND: the lockdown measures imposed by Member States to help contain the COVID-19 pandemic have an important disruptive effect on the capacity of businesses and tax administrations to carry out some of their obligations under Council Directive 2011/16/EU on administrative cooperation in the field of taxation. In the light of these unprecedented circumstances, a number of Member States and persons liable to report to the competent information under Directive 2011/16/EU have requested the deferral of certain time limits laid down in that Directive for automatic exchanges of information on financial accounts of which the beneficiaries are tax resident in another Member State, as well as on reportable cross-border arrangements included in the Hallmarks listed in Annex IV to that Directive. The European Parliament adopted, under a special legislative procedure for consultation, a legislative resolution on the proposal for a Council directive amending Directive 2011/16/EU to address the urgent need for deferring certain time limits for the filing and exchange of information in the field of taxation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The proposal consists of adapting the existing provisions of Directive 2011/16/EU as regards the time limits for the filing and exchange of certain information, in order to address the challenges faced by information providers and tax administrations as a result of the current COVID-19 pandemic. Parliament approved the Commission proposal subject to the following amendments: Members specified that the deferral for filing and exchange of information should not undermine the Union's policy of combating tax evasion, tax avoidance and aggressive tax planning through the exchange of information between tax administrations. Parliament proposed to delete the provisions providing for the possibility for the Commission to grant, by means of delegated acts, a further extension of the deferral period for filing and exchange of information.

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