Rules for exchange of information

EU: Rules for tax authorities to exchange information beginning 2016

Directive on Administrative Cooperation

The European Commission today announced new rules to ease the exchange of financial information by tax authorities of the EU Member States, thus allowing for tax transparency and cooperation. With these new rules, there are now practical arrangements in place for entry into application of the amended ‘Directive on Administrative Cooperation’ from 1 January 2016.

As explained in the EC release, beginning 1 January 2016, information will be exchanged between EU Member States tax administrations with respect to all relevant financial income – including:

  • Interest, dividends, and other similar types of income
  • Information on account balances, sale proceeds from financial assets, and income from certain insurance products.

The EC stated that these rules are consistent with the OECD global standard of exchange, meaning that EU tax authorities will be able to use one single format for exchanging information both within and outside the EU.

EU Member States have also committed to a proposal by the EC to further improve the rules by 2019 by adding more information fields and to consider any other necessary adjustments. The OECD has agreed to improve its own exchange schema in 2019 in line with the EU’s approach.