Mandatory Automatic Exchange of Information in the Field of Taxation in Relation to Reportable Cross-Border Arrangements. Analysis of the EU Directive 6804/18

Abstract

The necessity for a mandatory disclosure obligation for intermediaries who project cross-border
schemes for their clients, that involve routing assets to or through offshore entities, is very felt at
international level, especially in consequence of the recent scandals that highlighted phenomena
of tax evasion/elusion - in particular, “Panama Papers” and “Paradise Papers”. These complex
cross-border schemes facilitate tax evasion, tax fraud and money laundering, because each tax
jurisdiction evaluates a part of the system within its borders.
Considering this scenario, the EU Directive 6804/18 was introduced to provide a set of rules
related to the counter of tax avoidance/evasion phenomena and increasing levels of transparency
with regard to the exchange of information between the authorities of the Member States within
the Union. From the moment of its enforcement, the Directive obliges intermediaries, proposing
and commercializing transnational financial schemes to their clients, with the purpose to
facilitate tax avoidance, to report the establishment of such mechanisms to the tax authorities of
the Member State to which they belong. In turn, the authorities of the aforementioned EU
Member States will be compelled, as stated from the Directive, to exchange this information with
each other authorities, in order to increase control over the activities of consultants and tax
planners, regardless of the imminent possibility of a real risk.