On 13 March 2018, the ECOFIN Council, composed of the EU-28 Finance Ministers, reached political agreement on a Council Directive amending Directive 2011/16/EU on administrative cooperation in the field of taxation as regards mandatory automatic exchange of information in the field of taxation in relation to reportable cross-border arrangements in order to disclose potentially aggressive tax planning arrangements (also commonly referred to as DAC6).
The main purpose of DAC6 is to strengthen tax transparency and fight against aggressive tax planning. The term aggressive tax planning is undefined, however, and instead, reference is made to a number of pre-determined hallmarks, which are features that could render a cross-border arrangement reportable under this Directive. DAC6 provides for mandatory disclosure of cross-border arrangements by intermediaries, or individual or corporate taxpayers, to the tax authorities and mandates automatic exchange of this information among Member States.
