Assessment of reporting obligations for cross-border tax planning: New Tool by GvW Graf von Westphalen

GvW Graf von Westphalen has developed a new Tool which can be used to identify reporting obligations for cross-border tax arrangements.

EU Directive 2018/822/EU (DAC 6) provides for cross-border tax arrangements to be reported to the national tax authorities within 30 days, starting on 1 July 2020. This directive has now been transposed into German law – surprisingly, Germany has not extended the reporting deadlines contrary to the recommendation of the EU Commission. The reporting obligations also apply retroactively: Cross-border tax arrangements must be reported by the end of August 2020 if the arrangement was implemented between 25 June 2018 and 30 June 2020 or if its implementation began during this period. In these cases, however, it should be possible to report without objection by 30 September 2020.

"The scope of application of the new reporting obligations should not be underestimated", explains Dr Frank Tschesche, head of the tax law practice at GvW. "It is clear that typical intermediaries, such as tax consultants, lawyers and auditors can be targeted by the new regulations. But it is often not known that tax departments in companies and the users of tax arrangements can also be affected".

This is where the new GvW-Tool comes in. It includes a free initial assessment of the extent to which companies are subject to the reporting obligation. However, the use of the Tool cannot replace individual legal advice. You are welcome to contact the Frankfurt team around Dr. Frank Tschesche, which is "increasingly strong" (JUVE Handbuch Steuern 2020 – translation) in the area of tax compliance.

The law firm has again developed the Tool with Bryter, an automation software with which companies can create interactive applications for repetitive assessments and decisions themselves.