Calls for Increased Transparency in EU Council Code of Conduct Business Taxation Group: The EU Council’s Code of Conduct Group is facing increasing criticism in the wake of the Apple judgment to increase transparency concerning its operations, and information on the application of its standards in the listing process for the EU tax “Blacklist”.
European Commission Unveils New Tax Package – The European Commission has now published its Tax Package for “fair and simple taxation”, designed to address issues experienced in EU taxation arising in the course of “a ‘taxpayer’s journey’: from registering your business, to reporting, payment, verification, dealing with disputes.”
BREXIT – The Government of the United Kingdom has announced changes in the VAT treatment of goods imported from oversees and sold to UK customers and a new set of rules which will enter into force on 1 January 2021, at the end of the Brexit transition period.
DAC6: The proposal as agreed by Member States in early June to defer deadlines for exchange of information under the administrative cooperation directive as a result of the coronavirus crisis has now been published in the Official Journal of the European Union and has entered into force.
The Office of the US Trade Representative has announced the US will be carrying out investigations under Section 301 of its 1974 Trade Act concerning digital services taxes that have either been adopted or are being considered at political level by a number of countries worldwide.
Council of EU Approves Conclusions on Future Administrative Cooperation in Taxation: The Council of the European Union has now approved conclusions on the future administrative cooperation in taxation in the EU. The conclusions state that the Council believe that strengthening cooperation is “a very important part of the comprehensive EU effort to curb tax fraud, tax evasion and tax avoidance” and “are particularly relevant in the context of the need for recovery from the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic”.
Commission Proposes to Postpone DAC6 Reporting Implementation: The European Commission has published proposals for Council decisions to postpone deadlines imposed by the EU Directive on Administrative Cooperation by 3 months. This follows on from public requests made by financial and professional association organisations, seeking leniency in the enforcement of penalties and deadlines contained within the Directive due to the extraordinary consequences of the COVID-19 outbreak which have resulted in severe disruption across the European economy.
A global reference document setting out the measures taken by tax administrations worldwide has been created by the Forum on Tax Administration, containing detail of all taxation and financial measures taken by governments around the world in response to the COVID-19 outbreak.
The European Commission has published a Roadmap concerning its Action Plan for Taking the Customs Union to the Next Level. The Commission aims to further “IT implementation and optimisation, customs risk analysis and management, integration of operations and cooperation between customs authorities, harnessing innovation and improving efficiency of customs administrations”.
BEPS: OECD Publishes Responses to Country by Country Reporting Consultation:
The OECD has now published comments received in relation to a consultation document published in February inviting input concerning Action 13 of the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Project, on Country-by-Country Reporting.
The Executive Vice-President of the European Commission Margrethe Vestager said the European Commission is strongly supportive of actions taken by some EU Member states to impose unilateral digital services tax in absence of a collective action.
EU to impose tax rules on Member States:- Speaking at an event in Brussels, the Director for Direct Taxation and Tax Coordination in the EU, Benjamin Angel, indicated that the Commission is considering using its powers to bypass the unanimity requirement to decision making in taxation.
UK Enters Transitional Period with the EU:-
The United Kingdom’s Withdrawal Agreement, which formalises the UK’s exit from the EU, entered into force at midnight Central European Time on 31 January 2020. EU law will continue to apply in the UK at least until the end of the transition period – 31 December 2020.
EU: Member States could be candidates for blacklisting as non-cooperative jurisdictions from March 2020 according to a proposal by the Danish government supported by Germany, France, Spain, Austria and others.
EU: Tax Policy Key to New European Green Deal:
The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen presented her ambitious climate-change related policy proposal ‘New Green Deal’, under which every aspect of the EU economy will be re-evaluated to address the shortcomings of the European framework, which are compounded by the climate emergency. The European leaders endorsed the policy goal of making Europe a climate-neutral by 2050, with a dissenting opinion from Poland could not commit to this goal, as a result of which the EU leaders will re-evaluate the matter in June 2020.
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