On 6 October 2015, the EU Finance Ministers reached political agreement in the Council to amend the existing Directive 2011/16/EU on administrative cooperation in the field of taxation (“the Directive”). The Directive will require the Member States to automatically exchange a basic set of information on advance cross-border tax rulings (“rulings”) and advance pricing arrangements (“APAs”), which are broadly defined.
The Directive will ensure that where one Member State issues such ruling or APA, any other Member State affected is in a position to monitor the situation and the possible impact on its tax revenue. Member States receiving the basic set of information will be able to request further information, including the full text of the ruling or APA. The Commission will develop a central directory, where the information exchanged will be stored, which will be accessible to all Member States and, solely to the extent required for monitoring the correct implementation of the Directive, to the Commission.
From 1 January 2017, the Member States have to include information within three months following the end of the half of the calendar year during which the advance cross-border rulings or APAs have been issued, amended or renewed. For rulings and APAs issued before 1 January 2017, a five-year look-back period will apply. The Directive will be adopted at a forthcoming Council meeting (probably in December 2015).
More information about the Directive can be found here: EUDTG Newsalert 7 October 2015.
