Reporting on cross-border schemes postponed

On 24 June 2020, the Council of the European Union announced that it has passed amendments to the Directive on administrative cooperation in the field of taxation. According to these amendments, the EU Member States are entitled to postpone the term for submission of information on the cross-border schemes for 6 months. Amendments were passed because, due to COVID-19, the financial and tax authorities, and tax advisers did not have an opportunity to prepare for the implementation of the Directive.

Based on the Directive amendments, the legislator has accepted Cabinet Regulations “Amendments to Cabinet Regulations No. 210 of 14 April 2020 “Regulations On Automatic Information Exchange on Reportable Cross-Border Schemes”, which are in force as of 18 July 2020.

The above amendments of the Cabinet Regulations provide:

• To extend the term for six months:

1)   The term (i.e., changing from 31 August 2020 to 28 February 2021) for submission of reports on the reportable cross-border schemes made available for implementation, are ready for implementation or the first phase of their implementation has started in the period from 25 June 2018 to 30 June 2020.

2)   The term from which the 30-day reporting period is calculated for those reportable cross-border schemes made available for implementation, are ready for implementation or the first phase of their implementation has started in the period from 1 July 2020 to 31 December 2020;

3)   The term (i.e., changing from 30 October 2020 to 30 April 2021) until which the State Revenue Service performs the first automatic information exchange on reportable cross-border schemes with the competent authorities of other countries;

• Provides that in the case of tradable schemes the first periodical reporting term is 30 April 2021.

Should you require any assistance in relation to the planned changes, please contact Leinonen tax advisers.