02.06.2020
The European Commission has published proposals for Council decisions to postpone deadlines imposed by the EU Directive on Administrative Cooperation by 3 months, as well as the entry into force of the VAT E-commerce package by 6 months.
This follows on from public requests made by financial and professional association organisations, seeking leniency in the enforcement of penalties and deadlines contained within the Directive due to the extraordinary consequences of the COVID-19 outbreak which have resulted in severe disruption across the European economy.
As concerns the Directive on Administrative Cooperation, the proposal would:
- Defer the time limit for exchanges of information on Reportable Financial Accounts by 3 months, i.e. until 31 December 2020;
- Change the date for the first exchange of information on reportable cross-border arrangements that feature in Annex IV to Council Directive 2011/16/EU from 31 October 2020 to 31 January 2021;
- Change the date for the beginning of the period of 30 days for reporting cross-border arrangements which are included in Hallmarks listed in Annex IV to Council Directive 2018/822/EU from 1 July 2020 to 1 October 2020;
- Change the date for the reporting of the ‘historical’ cross-border arrangements (i.e. arrangements that became reportable from 25 June 2018 to 30 June 2020) from 31 August 2020 to 30 November 2020.
The Commission has also included in the proposal concerning the Directive on Administrative Cooperation the possibility of extending the reporting deadlines for a further 3 months, depending on the continued evolution of the coronavirus impact on the EU.
As concerns the VAT e-commerce package, the proposals would “only concern the date of application of the already adopted legal framework of the VAT e-commerce package set out in the VAT Directive. The date of application shall be postponed by six months. This means that the rules shall be applied as of 1 July 2021 instead of 1 January 2021. Consequently, Member States shall adopt and publish their transposition measures by 30 June 2021 instead of 31 December 2020.”
The proposals will be considered by the Council as a matter of priority.