EU Council: deferral of the DAC6 reporting deadlines EU Council: deferral of the DAC6 reporting deadlines

Following informal agreement reached by EU Member States in early June 2020 and green light from the European Parliament on 19 June 2020, the Council of the EU announced on 24 June 2020 that it has adopted an amendment to the Directive on Administrative Cooperation (DAC6) allowing EU Member States an option to defer the time limits.

The amendments as adopted give EU Member States the option to delay the deadlines for filing information on reportable cross-border arrangements by up to six months, as follows:
 

• By 28 February 2021 (previously 31 August 2020) for arrangements the first step of which was implemented between 25 June 2018 and 30 June 2020 (so-called "historical arrangements")
• The start date for the 30 days reporting deadline to begin by 1 January 2021 (originally 1 July 2020), including with respect to cross-border arrangements for which the reporting trigger occurs between 1 July 2020 and 31 December 2020
• The new deadline for the first periodic report on marketable arrangements will be 30 April 2021

The amendment provides the possibility for the Council to extend the deferral period once, for a maximum of three further months. Any extension would depend on the evolution of the pandemic and would be subject to strict conditions.

Whilst most EU countries deferred the reporting deadlines by 6 months, Finland as well as Germany decided to stick to the initial reporting deadlines and Austria only deferred the reporting deadlines by 3 months.

All Swiss companies with EU group entities should continue analysing their cross-border transactions, regardless of the postponement of the reporting deadlines in most countries. Given the large penalties, even where it is determined that a transaction is not reportable, this should still be documented accordingly.