The best companies are investing in diversity because they know a diverse workforce, and more importantly, one where everyone feels included is critical to long term success. New talent and younger generations often deliberately choose workplaces where diversity is celebrated, and a business with a global outlook needs to put diversity front and center.
But the places we grow up in, our own education and cultural background can prove a challenge to managing a diverse workforce. Our own ideas about race, religion or sexual orientation may not be shared by colleagues in other parts of the world, and sometimes the systems and processes in our companies are not always set up to deal with a global workforce.
Continuing their open communication policy, the Dutch MDR team released details of the DAC6 reports submitted to the Dutch tax authorities in January and February 2021.
There were 4,429 disclosures made between 1 January 2021 and 28 February 2021. 4,259 of the disclosures were for reports in the historical period from 25 June 2018 until 31 December 2020. Only 170 reports related to new transactions. In total 5035 different hallmarks were reported. 35% of hallmark disclosures related to intra-group cross border transfers, covered by hallmark E3. 25% of hallmarks reported concerned the different characteristics of the C1 hallmarks .Hallmark B2, relating to income conversion accounted for 14% of disclosures.
Below is a summary of the hallmarks that were reported during the period. Some transactions may have contained multiple hallmarks.
A1: Conditions of confidentiality: 5
A2: Fee agreements: 3
A3: Standardised documents or structures: 33
B1: Acquiring loss making companies: 3
B2: Income conversion: 723
B3: Circular transactions: 228
C1a: Deductible cross border payments: 346
C1bi: Low or tax exempts recipients: 316
C1bii: Blacklisted recipient country: 282
C1c: Hybrids: 90
C1d: Preferentially taxed recipients: 268
C2: Same depreciation: 13
C3: Double taxation: 41
C4: Transfer of assets: 382
D1: Undermining reporting obligations: 17
D1: Other: 59
D2: Ownership chains: 25
E1: Unilateral safe harbour rules: 258
E2: Hard to value intangibles: 357
E3: Intra group cross border transfers: 1586
Total hallmarks reported: 5,035
VinciWorks’ DAC6 Solution offers reporting solutions for international firms for MDR regulations in many jurisdictions including the Netherlands. Get in touch with us to see how Omnitrack can help ensure you are completing your reporting requirements.
We are excited to announce that VinciWorks has been acquired by Marlowe plc, the UK leader in business-critical services and risk & compliance software.
Marlowe, a London Stock Exchange listed company, with a market cap of around £700m brings significant resources, complementary products and operating expertise to help VinciWorks expand its risk and compliance offering.
Alex Dacre, Chief Executive of Marlowe plc, said:
“The acquisition of VinciWorks is a major development in Marlowe’s strategy to become the market leader in governance, risk and compliance software and cements our position as the UK’s leading GRC compliance eLearning business. The acquisition is highly complementary to our existing portfolio of compliance software products and will enable us to offer clients a complete regulatory solution that enhances their visibility and understanding of evolving standards and regulations, enabling them to better manage their corporate & ESG, employee and workplace risks.”
Josh Goodhardt, CEO of VinciWorks, said:
“Joining Marlowe was a natural next step for VinciWorks. Marlowe’s expertise and resources will help us accelerate our vision for a one-stop governance, risk and compliance platform. VinciWorks has grown rapidly from an e-learning business into a comprehensive risk, compliance and ESG solution. As the GRC market develops, global organisations face compliance with an ever-increasing number of complex regulations and ESG requirements. VinciWorks has the regulatory knowledge and technical expertise to, together with Marlowe, build a next-generation platform for identifying and navigating risk and compliance around the globe.”
The French Supreme Administrative Court has requested a preliminary ruling from the European Court of Justice (ECJ) regarding the DAC6 filing rules applicable to intermediaries in the case of legal professional privilege.
French domestic law states that intermediaries relying on legal professional privilege are still subject to DAC6 rules, and need to obtain their client’s permission to waive privilege and make a report within a 30 day period. If the relevant intermediary does not obtain their client’s consent, then they have to notify other intermediaries of their reporting obligations and a report needs to be made by a different intermediary within 90 days of notification.
File reviews are a core compliance process for many law firms. They are undertaken periodically, as a way of detecting any compliance deficiencies within a client file. Whilst the precise questions involved will vary from firm to firm, a File Review will usually consider:
General compliance issues, such as whether a conflict of interest search has been undertaken
Cost-related issues, such as whether an estimate was provided to the client and, if so, whether any invoice issued was within that estimate.
General management of the client’s matter, and whether progress has been slower than anticipated
Anti-money laundering (AML) risks, including checking that the client’s identity has been verified
Once compliance issues are identified, the File Review process is also a way to ensure those issues are remedied and to document any action taken.
The Dutch MDR team has put a lot of time and energy into open communication throughout the DAC6 process. Whether with intermediaries, software builders or others, the Dutch MDR team has always been available for consultation. The MDR team were aware early on of the potential number of intermediaries and made the decision to update and inform all potential intermediaries via their website, presentations, webcasts, and through their LinkedIn account.
Here is a short overview of how the Dutch DAC6 supervision process operates:
Early on in the process, the MDR team set up clear guidance containing explanations of the DAC6 definitions and criteria. Through the tax authority communicating what, in their should be disclosed there was less room for discussion on these topics.
A clear internal IT process was set up to share the DAC6 disclosures within the Netherlands Tax and Customs Administration, allowing the MDR team to use counter-information from colleagues at the Netherlands Tax and Customs Administration to enhance their review process.
Once the first disclosure has been received, the MDR Team analyses the disclosures from a quality perspective and communicates actively via LinkedIn patterns that they see and what they would like improved.
The MDR Team set up conversations with disclosures that showed lower quality to discuss how they could be improved in the future.
The Ministry of Finance at the Cypriot Tax Department have announced they will be extending the deadline for reporting DAC6 arrangements to 30th November 2021.
This extension will apply to all retroactive reporting dating back to 25 June 2018.
The deadline has been extended for all the following cases:
Reportable cross-border arrangements that have been made between 25 June 2018 and 30 June 2020
Reportable cross-border arrangements that had been made between 1 July 2020 and 31 December 2020 that required submission within 30 days.
Reportable cross-border arrangements made between 1 January 2021 and 31 August 2021 that required submission within 30 days.
VinciWorks is constantly monitoring DAC6 amendments made by the tax authorities, ensuring that schemas remain up to date, and adding additional reporting XMLs as they become available inside the Omnitrack system.
Click here to find out more about VinciWorks’ award winning DAC6 product.
Now that the ISQM 1 Standard has been approved, accounting firms need to begin deciding what they need to do to comply with the new quality management standards. While they only go into force in December 2022, preparation will require input from multiple departments and firms are already thinking about the systems they need to implement.
What is ISQM 1?
ISQM 1 is the new standard that deals with quality management at a firm level. It replaces the ISQC1 which was focused on quality control. A quality management system is necessary to create an environment that enables and supports engagement teams in performing quality engagements. It applies to all firms that perform audits or reviews of financial statements, or other assurance or related services engagement.
In light of the Brexit Fair Trade Agreement that passed through parliament on 30 December 2020, HMRC announced that there would be major changes in the UK’s approach to DAC6. HMRC confirmed in its shocking New Year’s Eve announcement email that in 2021, the UK government would repeal the legislation implementing DAC6 in the UK and instead implement the OECD’s MDR.
At the Budget meeting in March 2021, the UK government announced that it would consult on the implementation of the OECD Mandatory Disclosure Rules (MDR). The consultation was expected to be issued in late summer but has not yet been released. It was expected that the consultation period would run until autumn and be finalised in the winter.
In preparation for the new rules, HMRC has been in touch with relevant stakeholders in order to begin their planning work on the relevant IT systems to be used for reporting to ensure that they design a service and guidance that are quick and simple to use.
VinciWorks’ DAC6 reporting solution accommodates reporting in the UK as well as all EU Member States and will continue to provide a solution for the new UK MDR as soon as it is finalised by HMRC.
The Payment Services Regulations 2017 (the ‘Regulations’) apply to banks, building societies, card issuers, and other firms which provide payment services. These are the services set out in the Regulations and summarised on the FCA’s website, and include payment initiation services, account information services and services which allow cash to be paid into (or withdrawn from) payment accounts, amongst others. One of the requirements for firms governed by the Payment Services Regulations is to “provide to the FCA statistical data on fraud relating to different means of payment”.
