EU introduces automatic exchange for cross-border tax rulings

1 January 2017, new rules obliging EU Member States to automatically exchange information on all new cross-border tax rulings that they issue were brought into force. Exchange will be facilitated through a central depository that is accessible to all EU countries.

Every six months national tax authorities will send a report to the depository, listing all the cross-border tax rulings that they have issued. Other Member States will then be able to check those lists and to ask the issuing Member State for more detailed information on a particular ruling.

The first exchange should take place by 1 September 2017 at the latest. By 1 January 2018, Member States will also have to provide the same information for all cross-border rulings issued since the beginning of 2012.

Pierre Moscovici, Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs, said: “The entry into force of the automatic exchange of information on cross-border tax rulings on 1 January marks a major step forward. It equips Member States and their national tax administrations with the information they need to detect certain abusive tax practices and take the necessary action in response.”