New rules regarding the transparency of tax rulings came into force as of 1st January 2017.
EU member states are now obliged to automatically exchange information on all new cross-border tax rulings they issue, which will be done through a central depository, accessible to all EU countries.
Every six months, national tax authorities of each member state will send a report to the depository, whereby they will list all the cross-border tax rulings they would have issued.
Other member states, who will have access to the depositary, will be able to check the lists and ask the member state who issued such tax ruling for more detailed information on the particular ruling.
The first exchange should take place by 1st September 2017, whereas by 1st January 2018, member states will also be required to provide the same information for all cross-border rulings issued since the beginning of 2012.
