In a request for a preliminary ruling from Luxembourg the ECJ was asked under what conditions a tax administration may seek disclosure from a lawyer in the context of an exchange of information and whether such information provided falls under the protection of legal professional privilege pursuant to Article 7 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. In this case the ECJ sees an infringement of the essence of the right guaranteed in Article 7 of the Charter which cannot be justified.
Today, the Council adopted a directive amending EU rules on administrative cooperation in the area 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.
On 10 October 2022 the OECD delivered a new global tax transparency framework to provide for the reporting and exchange of information with respect to crypto assets.
The European Council has adopted amendments to the Savings Tax Directive for the automatic exchange of information between member states from January 1, 2017.
The OECD has published a new standard on the automatic exchange of information between tax authorities. This is complemented by a model competent authority agreement drafted as a bilateral treaty between two states.
