The European Council has said it will have more time to comply with rules on cross-border information reporting and exchanges, in order to address the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The amendment to the directive on administrative cooperation in the area of taxation (DAC) will allow member states an option to defer by up to six months the time limits for the filing and exchange of certain information.
This information includes automatic exchanges of information on financial accounts of which the beneficiaries are tax residents in another member state and reportable cross-border tax planning arrangements.
The European Council explained that severe disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown measures to the activities of many financial institutions, tax advisers and tax authorities have disrupted timely compliance with their reporting obligations.
Depending on the evolution of the pandemic, the European Council noted that the amended directive also provides the possibility, under strict conditions, for the council to extend the deferral period once, for a maximum of three further months.
