INTERNATIONAL TAX PLAZA - The ECOFIN Council has adopted a directive amending Directive 2011/16/EU on administrative cooperation in the field of taxation (DAC8)

On October 17, 2023 the Economic and Financial Affairs Ministers of the European Union (ECOFIN) Council adopted Council Directive amending Directive 2011/16/EU on administrative cooperation in the field of taxation. The amendments mainly concern the reporting and automatic exchange of information on revenues from transactions in crypto-assets and on advance tax rulings for the wealthiest (high-net-worth) individuals. The directive was adopted by unanimity and will enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal.

Additional categories of assets and income, such as crypto assets, will now be covered. There will be a mandatory automatic exchange between tax authorities of information which will have to be provided by reporting crypto-asset service providers. So far, the decentralized nature of crypto-assets has made it difficult for member states’ tax administrations to ensure tax compliance. The inherent cross-border nature of crypto-assets requires strong international administrative cooperation to ensure effective tax collection.

This directive covers a broad scope of crypto-assets, building on the definitions that are set out in the regulation on markets in crypto-assets (MiCA). Also those crypto-assets that have been issued in a decentralized manner, as well as stablecoins, including e-money tokens and certain non-fungible tokens (NFTs), are included in the scope.

The text of the adopted Directive can be found here.

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