EBF advisor: Roger Kaiser
Publication date: 19 March 2018
The EBF has serious concerns about the Commission’s proposals for a Directive on mandatory disclosures in relation to some cross-border arrangements ( “DAC6”) and the OECD model for Mandatory Disclosure Rules for tax reporting avoidance arrangements and offshore structures which DAC6 is expected to incorporate.
A major concern is that the contemplated scheme would be very challenging to implement in practice if financial institutions have to carry out granular investigations, potentially with retroactive effects.
The broad scope of application of DAC6 and the absence of a clear actual knowledge test will result in a great deal of legal uncertainty for financial institutions, which in their vast majority are not designers/promoters of tax schemes for their clients and in some Member States are even legally prevented from providing any tax advice.
The EBF therefore calls on the Council to reconsider the scope of application of the proposed Directive and to clarify that providing routine banking services (e.g. maintaining a financial account for a customer) without any additional involvement in structuring, does not make the bank an “intermediary” under DAC6.
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