18 November 2016 EU Council's Legal Service issues opinion concluding that public Country-by-Country reporting proposal would require unanimous consent The Legal Service of the Council of the European Union (EU) gave a written opinion on November 11, on the legal basis of the proposal to amend the EU Directive on disclosure of income tax information (the Accounting Directive), better known as public Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting. The Legal Service concluded that as the aim and content of the proposal relate to fiscal provisions and since the proposal directly affects the establishment and functioning of the internal market, the proposal must be based on Article 115 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), instead of Article 50(1) of the TFEU. Consequently, this proposal would require unanimous consent by the Council of the EU in order to be adopted and not a qualified majority. Further, the written opinion also addressed the provisions relating to the Common Union list of certain tax jurisdictions concluding that these need to be re-examined. This opinion may have important consequences for the ongoing process with respect to public CbC reporting. A Tax Alert prepared by EY's Global Tax Desk Network, and attached below, provides additional details. Document ID: 2016-1985 |
