Draft bill on the transposition of Council Directive (EU) 2016/1164 of 12 July 2016 on preventing ta
Background
A group of 26 Liberal senators have tabled in the Senate a bill on the transposition of an EU directive against tax avoidance. The National Liberal Party drafted a similar bill last year but withdrew it a few weeks before the parliamentary elections. The Liberal leaders expressed their support for the EU Directive last year, but have since backtracked for seemingly electoral reasons. We remind here that in January the Finance Minister said during a TV debate that the Directive will be implemented from May 2017 because it is mandatory practice. Amid concerns expressed by economists and tax analysts about the negative impact of the budget law, which is built on tax cuts and wage hikes in the public sector, the ruling coalition might still transpose the EU Directive by GEO and put in place new restrictions.
The legislative procedure
The bill has been submitted to the Legislative Council for approval (due 16 March) and to the Government, which must issue an expert opinion (at an unspecified deadline)…