CJEU – Recent Developments in Direct Taxation 2016

1. S. 98Introduction

The law on the exchange of information in tax matters has seen continuous change in recent years, speeded up and corroborated by a significant increase in requests for exchanges of information. On the international level, this change has been most momentous since the 2005 revision of Article 26 OECD Model and the increased pressure put on countries by the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (Global Forum) in 2009, which prompted Luxembourg, and most other OECD countries and financial centres, to fully commit to the so-called “global standard” of tax information exchange. On the EU level, the same trend has resulted in several amendments to existing exchange of information mechanisms, in particular amendments intended to expand the scope of automatic exchange of information, in the so-called “DAC 1” and “DAC 2” Directives. The practical application of the exchange of information mechanisms – whether under a bilateral tax treaty or within the framework provided for by EU law – continues to be plagued by uncertainty as regards the substantive requirements for information to be exchanged, in particular with regard to the meaning of the “foreseeable r...