CFE has published an Opinion Statement prepared by the CFE ECJ Task Force on the CJEU decision of 25 November 2021 in Case C-437/19, État luxembourgeois v L, on the conditions for information requests and taxpayer remedies. The Third Chamber of the Court of Justice of the EU (ECJ) delivered its decision on 25 November 2021, following Advocate General Kokott’s Opinion. The Court clarified the conditions for the identification of a taxpayer in group information requests under the DAC and confirmed that Article 47 of the Charter on Fundamental Rights requires the information holder to be given the necessary information to assess the request’s legality.
The CFE Tax Advisers Europe welcomes the judgment of the Court as it provides further clarification on the legal protection of the information holders afforded by Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union in cases of cross-border exchange of information. Article 47 of the Charter guarantees that national courts can review the cross-border information request in order to assess its legality and also that the information holder must be able to ascertain the reasons upon which the order they receive is based.
Moreover, the CFE Tax Advisers Europe welcomes the illumination regarding the concept of “foreseeable relevance”, but also notes that additional clarification will be needed to distinguish permissible group requests from illegal “fishing expeditions”.
We invite you to read the statement, and remain available for any queries.