INTERMEDIARIES AND AGGRESSIVE TAX PLANNING

The directive n. 2018/822, modifying the previous legislation, introduced new rules  in order to guarantee transparency and to reduce aggressive tax planning. The intermediaries (tax consultants, accountants and lawyers) who deal with the planning and / or promotion of planning systems, will have to report the schemes potentially aggressive (to the tax authorities). The administrations will verify the actual existence of the single case.

It is sufficient that the operation considered refers to a standardized scheme, or provides for the transformation of a capital into a financial product that is not susceptible to information exchange, or provides for the use of non-European legal structures or the use of intangible assets that are difficult to evaluate (as outlined in a precise list of risk indicators contained in this directive).

The reporting must be carried out using standardized models prepared at European level, in order to allow easy communication between the various administrations involved. This automatic exchange of information between tax authorities, through the centralized database, is  very important, as it allows to provide relevant data and to show existence of aggressive tax practices in order to permit to the States to apply proportionality sanctions effective.