DAC 6 – Automatic Exchange of Information of Reportable Cross-border Arrangements

Legal Overview:

The DAC 6 amendment to the directive introduced the mandatory automatic exchange of certain cross-border arrangements (CBA) that fulfil specific criteria (known as hallmarks) and which concern either more than one EU country or an EU country and a non-EU country. It mandates a reporting obligation by intermediaries, or under certain circumstances, the taxpayers for these tax arrangements if in scope.  To identify whether a CBA is within scope of DAC 6, the intermediary or taxpayer needs to verify if the variables pertaining to the arrangement fall within scope of the set hallmarks as listed under DAC 6.

DAC 6 came into force on 25 May 2018, Council Directive 2011/16/EU (‘Directive on Administrative Cooperation’) was amended by Council Directive (EU) 2018/822 (‘DAC6’) regarding the mandatory automatic exchange of information in relation to reportable cross-border arrangements.  DAC 6 was then implemented into Maltese legislation on 25^th June 2018, by virtue of LN 342 of 2019, which amended S.L. 123.127, entitled the Cooperation with Other Jurisdictions on Tax Matters Regulations.

DAC 6 Registration:

Kindly refer to the User Manual on DAC6 Registration and Reporting, for further details pertaining to this process, while Registration can be initiated through following this Registration Page.

CBA Reports and Notification Submissions:

CBA Reports are to be submitted in accordance to the DAC6 XML Schema for filing information in relation to reportable cross-border arrangements and for further guidance in this regards, kindly refer to the DAC6 XML Schema User Guide.

Also, in terms of Regulation 13(7)(e) of the Cooperation Regulations, an intermediary would be required to submit a CBA Notification, notifying the Commissioner for Tax and Customs of those reportable cross-border arrangements in respect of which the reporting obligation was waived to another intermediary or the relevant taxpayer. The Annual Notifications Form needs to be downloaded, duly filled and signed.   Once completed, the Notifications document together with the Excel file are to be sent to MTCA via email to [email protected] .

Deadlines:

CBA Reports are to be submitted annually within 30 days from the earlier of when:

1. an arrangement is made available for implementation; or
2. an arrangement is ready for implementation; or
3. when the first step in its implementation has been made.
   

CBA Notifications shall be sent annually by not later than the end of February of every year with respect to reportable cross-border arrangements where the trigger point for reporting took place during the preceding calendar year. The first of such notifications shall be made by the 28 February 2022 with respect to reportable cross-border arrangements where the trigger point for reporting took place up to 31 December 2021.

Guidelines:

For further guidance on the above, kindly refer to the Guidelines on the Mandatory Automatic Exchange of Information in relation to Cross-Border Arrangements (Version 1.2).

Moreover kindly also refer to Guideline in relation to the waiver from filing information in respect of a reportable cross-border arrangement (DAC6), in relation t the consequences of the judgement of the Court of Justice of the European Union in Case C-694/20.

FAQs - link

Contact:

For further information kindly contact us at [email protected] ​.