Proposal to defer DAC 6 reporting due to COVID-19

May 13, 2020 | News

On May 8, 2020, the European Commission (EC) submitted a proposal (Proposal) for a Council Directive amending Directive 2011/16/EU on mandatory exchange of information in the field of taxation (DAC 6). The Proposal aims to counter the disruptive effects of the COVID-19 pandemic causing difficulties for taxpayers and intermediaries to be timely compliant and for tax administrations to duly collect and process the relevant data.

The Proposal confirms that DAC 6 remains applicable as of July 1, 2020, but it provides for the following deferral of deadlines on reporting, filing and exchange of information pertaining to reportable cross-border arrangements under DAC 6:

  • Reportable cross-border arrangements put in place between June 25, 2018 and June 30, 2020 must be reported by November 30, 2020 (instead of August 31, 2020).
  • Reportable cross-border arrangements put in place after July 1, 2020 must be reported within 30 days after the day of the event triggering the reporting obligation, with the starting date for the computation of the 30 days period being deferred to October 1, 2020 (instead of July 1, 2020). This means that no reporting is required before November 1, 2020.
  • Intermediaries must issue the first report regarding marketable arrangements by January 31, 2021 (instead of September 2020).
  • The first exchange of information by tax authorities of the Member States regarding the reportable cross-border arrangement shall be communicated by January 31, 2021 (instead of October 31, 2020)

The Proposal includes an option for the EC to grant an additional deferral period of up to three (3) months for the filing and exchange of information depending if the exceptional circumstances of severe risk for public health caused by COVID-19 pandemic persist and lockdown measures have to be implemented.

The next steps will be for the Proposal to be adopted by the Council of the EU and following which it must be transposed into national law by the EU Member States by May 31, 2020. We will keep you updated on any further developments in this respect.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact one of your regular contacts at AKD or send an email to tax@akd.eu.

Sign up for our newsletters