Category Archives: Tax Evasion

Upcoming webinar: DAC6 — Understanding HMRC’s draft guidance

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Wednesday 22 April, 12:00pm

Back in January, VinciWorks held a core group meeting with HMRC’s DAC6 policy lead James Marshall. A key outcome of the meeting was that HMRC would be required to provide clarifications in its DAC6 guidance document in order to answer many pressing questions that law firms and other intermediaries had about the UK’s implementation of DAC6.

At the end of March 2020, HMRC shared with VinciWorks the latest version of its draft guidance. While the final guidance is not expected until later on in the year, the draft guidance gives much insight into HMRC’s view of this challenging piece of legislation.

In this webinar, VinciWorks’ Legal and Research Executive Ruth Mittelmann Cohen and Director of Best Practice Gary Yantin will take us through the details of HMRC’s latest draft guidance on DAC6.

Key talking points:

  • Reportable cross-border arrangements, including the impact of Brexit
  • Understanding the main benefit test and tax advantages
  • HMRC’s interpretation of the hallmarks, including relevant examples
  • Reporting obligations and the relevant reporting triggers
  • Details of information to be reported
  • The potential penalties for non-compliance and examples of finable offences

Free registration

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DAC6 guide to compliance updated

DAC6 guide cover

On 25 May 2018, the Economic and Financial Affairs Council of the European Union (ECOFIN) adopted the 6th Directive on Administrative Cooperation (the “Directive”), requiring so-called tax intermediaries to report certain cross-border arrangements that contain at least one of the hallmarks as defined in the Directive. The new EU rules which aim to clamp down on aggressive tax planning are set to impose a huge compliance burden on taxpayers and their advisers, potentially even in circumstances where there is no tax benefit at all.

Last year, we published a guide to help businesses better understand DAC6. Since then, we have consulted with HMRC and leading international firms to update the guide.

The guide covers:

  • The purpose and scope of the Directive
  • Who the Directive applies to and which transactions must be reported
  • The hallmarks that must be met in order to require reporting and an explanation of relevant terms relating to each hallmark
  • Guidance on preparation for DAC6
  • Advice and tools for reporting cross-border arrangements

Download the guide

DAC6 EU Member States implementation: updated country-by-country guide

VinciWorks in collaboration with Transfer Pricing Services have updated their DAC6 country-by-country guide. This is the only consolidated DAC6 guide of this nature available.

What is the DAC6 country-by-country implementation guide?

This important piece of guidance provides intermediaries and taxpayers with the most relevant updated information on how DAC6 legislation has been implemented across EU Member States and in the UK.

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DAC6 courses fully updated – which course should your staff take?

Screenshot of DAC6 advanced training scenarios
Our DAC6: Advanced course includes real scenarios to test users’ knowledge and understanding of their reporting requirements

DAC6 is a European Directive aimed at tackling tax avoidance and tax evasion, strengthening tax transparency and improving information sharing between EU member states. The Directive requires lawyers, accountants, tax advisers, bankers and other “intermediaries” to report certain aggressive cross-border arrangements. These “mandatory disclosure requirements” (MDR) mean that even arrangements without a particular tax motive may need to be reported to the tax authorities. Training is recommended in order to understand the intricacies of these hallmarks and to determine which transactions must be reported. 

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New Omnitrack feature – Export to XML enabling DAC6 reports to HMRC

In order to integrate Omnitrack into other systems, a robust API is required on both ends. Data needs to be automatically inputted into Omnitrack and data should be easily exported.

In addition to exporting data to Excel, PDF and CSV, Omnitrack allows data to be exported in XML format in order to integrate with other systems.

Example: integrate DAC6 reporting with tax authorities

DAC6 requires tax lawyers, accountants and tax advisers to report certain tax arrangements to local European tax advisers. This process can be automated and streamlined with Omnitrack. In order to report a DAC6 transaction, the data must conform to the tax authority’s “schema”. Omnitrack automatically manipulates the XML file to fit each tax authority specifications.

On-demand webinar: DAC6 – A live demo of our reporting solution

Register for our DAC6 email updates

On 13 January 2020, HMRC laid the UK’s DAC6 legislation before the House of Commons in the form of the International Tax Enforcement (Disclosable Arrangements) Regulations 2020, Statutory Instrument 2020 No. 25. The legislation will come into force on 1 July 2020. Reporting will be required for transactions in which the first step of implementation was carried out on or after 25 June 2018.

Since DAC6 was adopted by ECOFIN on 25 May 2018, VinciWorks has been in close consultation with HMRC and over 50 leading international firms to establish the implications of the EU Directive and build a reporting solution to help firms comply.

In this webinar, we covered the core features of our software and gave guidance on how intermediaries can use it to report transactions.

A recording of the webinar is available upon request. To request a recording, or to book a one-on-one demo, simply complete the form at the bottom of this page.

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DAC6 implementation – country-by-country guide to compliance

DAC6 guide to country-by-country implementation

The DAC6 compliance requirements of global businesses vary from country to country . Not all EU member states have yet finalised their guidance and additional details, such as legal professional privilege and penalties vary between each state. To help firms save time and money on conducting their own research, VinciWorks has collaborated with Transfer Pricing Services to create a concise country-by-country guide to DAC6 compliance. The guide can be purchased either together with our DAC6 compliance solution or as a standalone tool.

Preview the guide

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Formal notices sent by the European Commission for DAC6 infringements

A letter of formal notice has been issued to 15 EU Member States by the European Commission relating to EU Directive 2018/822, which amends Directive 2011/16/EU, regarding the mandatory automatic exchange of information in the field of taxation in relation to reportable cross-border arrangements (DAC6).

Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom all received letters of formal notice, but there are no details about which aspect of implementation in each EU Member State has not been satisfied.

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On-demand webinar: DAC6 – How to prepare

Register for our DAC6 email updates

DAC6 is an EU Directive that aims to strengthen tax transparency and fight against aggressive tax planning. Anyone who is involved in a cross-border arrangement including certain characteristics might fall within the scope of DAC6. This might include banks, trust companies, insurance companies, holding companies, group treasury functions, consultants, accountants, financial advisors and lawyers (including in-house).

On 13 January 2020, HMRC laid the UK’s DAC6 legislation before the House of Commons in the form of the International Tax Enforcement (Disclosable Arrangements) Regulations 2020, Statutory Instrument 2020 No. 25. The legislation will come into force on 1 July 2020. Reporting will be required for transactions in which the first step of implementation was carried out on or after 25 June 2018.

In this webinar, we were joined by Director of Best Practice Gary Yantin and Research and Legal Executive Ruth Cohen to share the key findings of HMRC’s final legislation and its consultation and give guidance on best practice to firms on their reporting requirements under DAC6.

The webinar will include:

  • A summary of HMRC’s implementation of DAC6
  • Examples of how different countries have implemented DAC6
  • A summary of our findings from core group meetings with leading international firms
  • Practical application of DAC6 in your firm
  • Answering questions from attendees

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DAC6 reporting portal – New dashboard to stay on top of deadlines

Register for our DAC6 email updates

One of the most important aspects of DAC6 compliance is making sure intermediaries report transactions within the reporting deadline. Having consulted with over 50 leading international firms and HMRC, we have updated the DAC6 portal dashboard to make it easier for administrators to stay on top of deadlines. Our customisable dashboard will allow firms to easily track when a deadline is approaching, see what’s overdue and review what has been reported.

What are the key features of the new DAC6 portal dashboard?

1. Clear overview of the status of reports

Screenshot of DAC6 reporting portal dashboard

Failure to submit a report can result in a fine from HMRC. The dashboard gives a clear, customisable visual overview of the upcoming deadlines and overdue reportable transactions.

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