William Byrnes' Tax, Wealth, and Risk Intelligence

European Union (EU) Ministers for Economy and Finance met in Luxembourg for an ECOFIN Council chaired by the Luxembourg Minister for Finance Pierre Gramegna. The Ministers expressed their political agreement on a proposed Directive on the automatic exchange of information (AEI) on tax rulings.

On the basis of a compromise agreement brokered by the Luxembourg Presidency, the Council expressed its political agreement on a proposed Directive designed to improve transparency in the context of advance cross-border tax rulings, by making their automatic exchange between tax administrations compulsory.

The proposed Directive [Download EU AEOI TP] is part of a series of measures presented in March 2015 which aim to prevent tax avoidance and aggressive tax planning by companies. It aims to modify Directive 2011/16/EU on administrative cooperation in the field of taxation, which defines the practical terms and conditions for exchanging information in order to include advance tax rulings.  The Directive requires Member States to proceed with AIE in the field of advance cross-border tax rulings, as well as advance pricing agreements. The Commission will implement a secure central directory, accessible to all Member States and the Commission, where the information exchanged will be stored.