DAC6 is an EU Directive aimed at improving transparency between EU tax authorities and eliminating harmful tax practices by introducing mandatory tax disclosure and reporting rules in relation to cross border tax arrangements with certain features or “hallmarks”.
In response to the coronavirus crisis, the EU Commission has proposed that certain key filing deadlines under DAC6 are delayed for a period of three months.
On 8 May 2020, the EU Commission published its proposal to defer key filing and exchange of information deadlines under DAC6 as a result of the challenges businesses and EU Member States are facing at the moment with the coronavirus crisis.
Under the proposal, DAC6 would still come into force on 1 July 2020 as planned, but certain key filing and information exchange dates would be deferred by three months:
- The deadline for reporting “historical” cross border arrangements (i.e., arrangements that became (or become) reportable between 25 June 2018 and 30 June 2020) would be deferred from 31 August 2020 to 30 November 2020.
- The start of the 30 day period for reporting post 30 June 2020 cross border arrangements would be deferred from 1 July 2020 to 1 October 2020.
- The date for the first exchanges of information between EU tax authorities on reportable cross border arrangements would be deferred from 31 October 2020 to 31 January 2021.
The Commission has reserved the right to extend the deferral measures for a further maximum period of three months.
The proposal requires the consent of all Member States in order to be adopted. This is expected imminently.