On 7 June 2012, the Ministry of Finance published a draft for amendment of the Tax and Social Insurance Procedure Code to implement Directive 2011/16/EU (the "Directive") into the national legislation.

The Directive aims at facilitating and boosting the cooperation between the EU revenue authorities and reducing the time for data exchange in the area of direct taxation. One of the main goals is to decrease the possibilities for tax evasion/avoidance schemes within the EU.

Instead of listing the specific taxes subject to the cooperation procedure, as structured now, the draft covers any direct taxes, including local taxes, due in the EU Member States. Public liabilities such as indirect taxes, customs and excise duties, and the social insurance contributions are explicitly excluded from the scope of the new rules.

The personal scope of the cooperation procedure will be explicitly defined and expanded. It will cover 1) individuals, 2) legal entities, 3) associations of persons and 4) any other legal arrangement of whatever nature and form, regardless of its legal personality, of whether it owns or manages assets, which, including income derived therefrom, are subject to any of the taxes covered by the cooperation procedure.

The proposed changes generally follow the Directive and aim at clarifying, expanding and making the currently existing means of cooperation between the EU Member States in the administrative cooperation in the field of direct taxation more effective. The cooperation procedures will include:

  • exchange of information on request
  • mandatory automatic exchange of information
  • spontaneous exchange of information
  • presence in administrative offices and participation in administrative enquiries
  • simultaneous controls
  • administrative notification

The new rules are expected to come into force on 1 January 2013.

We will keep you updated on the development of the draft.

This article was written for Law-Now, CMS Cameron McKenna's free online information service. To register for Law-Now, please go to www.law-now.com/law-now/mondaq

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The original publication date for this article was 12/06/2012.