Automatic Exchange of Information (AEoI) has become a globally accepted solution for countering international tax evasion on capital income. The origin of this unprecedented global solidarity lies in the aftermath of the crisis, which saw the global financial and economic systems struggling to recover from its consequences. The momentum provoked by FATCA has brought about the need for a new amendment of the Directive on Administrative Cooperation (DAC) earlier than envisaged. One of the main reasons for the efforts to amend the DAC was the most favoured nation clause provided for in Article 19. It obliges EU Member States which have committed under bilateral or multilateral agreements with third states to a wider cooperation than under the DAC to provide the same level of cooperation also to other EU Member States upon their request. The amendment of the DAC was pressing in order to avoid possible tensions between the Member States. In this article, the authors describe the main characteristics of the latest amendments of the DAC and highlight its similarities with and differences from AEoI under FATCA and under the OECD Global Reporting Standard. One important distinctive feature of the DAC 2 is that it explicitly provides for the protection of taxpayer rights by referring to the Data Protection Directive – a dedicated legal instrument safeguarding the protection of personal information.
Intertax