Poland AEOI Rules Still Not Implemented | FATCA Lawyers
On September 29, 2016, the European Commission announced that it had asked Poland to fully implement into its domestic law Council Directive 2014/107/EU on mutual assistance in income and capital taxation matters (which amends the earlier Directive 2011/16/EU on mandatory automatic exchange of information between member states). The request came in after the realization that Poland AEOI Rules were still not implemented despite the deadline.
Poland AEOI Rules Implementation, CRS and Council Directive 2014/107/EU
After the United States adopted Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) into law, the OECD (including the European Union) created the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) which established the standard for what type of information needs to be automatically exchanged between signatory countries. AEOI is essentially the practical application of the CRS.
In December 2014, the EU Council adopted Directive 2014/107/EU, which extended cooperation between tax authorities to automatic exchange of financial account information (i.e. AEOI) and expanded the scope of information to be exchanged on an automatic basis to include interest, dividends, and other types of income. Virtually all countries, except Poland and Portugal, have implemented the directive on AEOI
The Delays in Poland AEOI Rules Implementation
In reality, Poland, like other member states, were requires to implement the directive into their national laws by January 1. According to Tax Analysts, the European Commission already sent a formal notice to Poland on January 27, 2016. Then, it send another formal notice in March of 2016. At that time, Poland replied that the government was working on transposing Directive 2014/107/EU into national law.
However, Poland AEOI Rules still have not been implemented. What is worse, it appears that the Polish government has taken no concrete steps into that direction. Poland also has yet to fully inform the Commission of its plans to meet that requirement.
What Happens if Poland AEOI Rules Implementation Stalls
While the latest Commission action comes at a difficult time in Poland (on September 28, 2016, Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo sacked Finance Minister Pawel Szalamacha), it may not save Poland from later EU actions. If Poland does not respond in a satisfactory manner within the next two months, the Commission may refer Poland to the Court of Justice of the European Union.