The EU-Meldepflichtgesetz – Is the taxpayer now required to explain to the tax authorities how he avoids taxes?

What must companies do to prepare for the upcoming reporting obligation? – Today’s bpv Breakfast Briefing dealt with possible consequences for companies and provided practical insights.

20 February 2020. Starting with 1 July 2020, throughout the EU various fully legal compliant events must be reported to the tax authorities, otherwise penalties may be imposed.

Guest speaker Thomas Thomasberger, Head of Tax and responsible for Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) at Siemens AG Austria, provided practical insights on how Siemens deals with this challenge from a company perspective. Gerald Schachner, Partner and Head of the Tax Practice Group at bpv Huegel, and his two colleagues Kornelia Wittmann and Nicolas Wolski, all of them dually qualified as attorney at law and tax advisor, reported on the changes.

Legal basis of the mandatory disclosure rules (MDR) is the “DAC 6” directive or in Austria the respective implementing Austrian law (EU-Meldepflichtgesetz, EU-MPfG). For Austrian cross-border operating companies – regardless of their size – there is an urgent need to prepare for the MDR. However, the EU-MPfG does not only apply to companies implementing arrangements as taxpayers, but also (and moreover) to advisors involved. Therefore, the new law has a very broad scope.

Among the topics discussed were if the tax department may qualify as intermediary and how to deal with the reporting obligations within a group of companies – also considering the different implementation in other member states such as Poland and Germany. In addition, possible chances for taxpayers in connection with the mandatory disclosures under the EU-MPfG were highlighted.

Press Release