CESI statement on a new a codification directive on administration cooperation in the field of taxation

The main considerations for a codification directive on administration cooperation in the field of taxation raised by CESI include the following key aspects:

• In the private and the public sectors the text of the new directive (once implemented) will be a great challenge for all employees and civil servants. They have to change from the well-known traditional text of the six directives on administrative cooperation in the field of taxation to the new codified text of the new, unifying codification directive. Therefore it is a very useful advantage that the proposal does not change the global structure of the initial directive 2011/16/EU.

• The proposal for a new codification directive on administrative cooperation in the tax area is a technical work on the administrative level, containing no new measure to strengthen the cooperation rules. Therefore CESI hopes that the proposal is not the final act of directives 0n administrative coooperation in the field of taxation, but a new efficient base for further tax cooperation actions in a more transparent way.

• In the Directive (EU) 2019/1937 on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law, the recitals 18, 66 and 72 make reference to the exchange of information in the field of taxation and the administrative cooperation through the Directive 2011/16/EU. In this sense the present codification proposal should also mention the whistle-blower protection in the taxation field.

• Further more general problems exist in relation with tax avoidance and tax fraud that have a link to the proposal for the new Directive on administrative cooperation. For instance, by the Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive (ATAD 1 – (UE)/2016/1164) the Member States had only to implement a minimum level of protection of the internal market and aimed to achieve the essential minimum degree of coordination within the Union (recital 16). So, further, stronger actions are necessary. Moreover, by the Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive (ATAD 2 – (UE)/2017/952) the Directive ATAD 1 was amended as regards hybrid mismatches with third countries. In order to assemble a complete directive concerning entities in the Member States and permanent establishments of entities resident in third countries it would be useful in the future to propose also a codification version of the directives ATAD;

CESI’s full consultation contribution is available here. More information about the consultation and the draft directive can be accessed here.