European Union steps forward in the field of direct taxation

European Union steps forward in direct taxation

KPMG’s EU Tax Centre in Amsterdam has published it’s latest news on EU direct tax matters. According to this, on its meeting of June 17, 2016 the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) of the EU has reached political agreement on the proposal for an anti tax avoidance directive. The ECOFIN also approved Conclusions on the work of the Code of Conduct Group during the Netherlands Presidency and held a short discussion regarding the status of the proposal for a Directive on a Financial Transaction Tax.

1000

There is no doubt that we live in turbulent EU tax times. As we informed you earlier this year, on January 28, 2016 the European Commission unveiled its new proposal for an anti-tax avoidance directive (ATAD), which had been a high priority for the Dutch Presidency. The ECOFIN of the EU held discussions with a view to reaching a political agreement on the ATAD. In the light of these discussions the Presidency put forward a final compromise text, to which almost all delegations could agree and announced a ‘silence’ procedure until Monday, 20 June 2016. As no objections were raised by that deadline, political agreement was reached and the text will be submitted to a later ECOFIN meeting for formal adoption. The ECOFIN also approved Conclusions on the work of the Code of Conduct Group during the Netherlands Presidency, and particularly welcomed the agreement reached on new guidance on hybrid permanent establishment mismatches involving third countries. Finally, a short discussion was held as regards the status of the proposal for a Directive on a Financial Transaction Tax (FTT).

Connect with us