On 24 June 2020, the EU Council adopted an amendment to the Directive on administrative cooperation in the area of taxation (DAC 6 Directive). The amendment gives member states an option to postpone, by up to six months, the time limits for the filing and exchange of: (1) the automatic exchanges of information on financial accounts of which the beneficiaries are tax residents in another member state; and (2) the reportable cross border tax planning arrangements.

The disruption caused by the COVID-19 lockdown measures to the activities of many financial institutions, tax advisors and tax authorities have delayed timely compliance with their reporting obligations. The amended DAC 6 Directive also provides the possibility, under strict conditions, for the Council to extend the deferral period once, for a maximum of three further months.

Nevertheless, all relevant information will have to be reported to and exchanged by the tax authorities with the re-scheduled deadlines.

Luxembourg has announced that, subject to the amended DAC 6 Directive being formalised, it would amend the Luxembourg law that transposed the DAC 6 Directive. The draft law is expected to be published soon (see our relevant blog post here.)

The Commission’s press release can be found here.

The amended Directive can be found here.