European Professional Affairs Handbook for Tax Advisers

European Professional Affairs Handbook for Tax Advisers European Professional Affairs Handbook for Tax Advisers Second edition 2013 by the CFE Professional Affairs Committee edited by Rudolf Reibel Confédération Fiscale Européenne © 2013 Confédération Fiscale Européenne (CFE) Avenue de Tervuren 188 A B-1150 Brussels Disclaimer This Handbook has been designed as an overview and a starting point for pro- fessionals looking for information on the conditions of practicing their profession in another CFE country. It can only provide a general picture of the legal situation in the countries concerned and cannot cover the complexity of national regulation referred to. Furthermore, some of the Directives mentioned are still in the process of implementation which may lead to changes in national laws in the near future. Therefore, neither CFE, its representatives and staff, nor its member organisations accept any responsibility for the content of this Handbook. Where photocopying of parts of this publication is permitted under article 16B of the 1912 Copyright Act jo. the Decree of 20 June 1974, Stb. 351, as amended by the Decree of 23 August 1985, Stb. 471, and article 17 of the 1912 Copyright Act, legally due fees must be paid to Stichting Reprorecht (P.O. Box 882, 1180 AW Amstelveen). Where the use of parts of this publication for the purpose of anthologies, readers and other compila- tions (article 16 of the 1912 Copyright Act) is concerned, one should address the publisher. ISBN 978-90-8722-181-2 NUR 826 Foreword The first edition of this Handbook was supplied by CFE to European Institu- tions, national governments, international organisations and other stakehold- ers. It was sold to practitioners throughout Europe and beyond. We were pleased to note that the Handbook triggered global interest in countries as diverse as Australia, Chile, Japan, Thailand, Canada and the United States. The very positive reception given to the book encouraged us to develop the concept and produce a second edition. We have structured the Handbook as a versatile compendium and have added four new countries: Croatia, Poland, Portugal, and Ukraine. It serves as a guideline for tax practitioners interested in providing services cross-border. They will find information on existing requirements for tax advisers in other European States as well as specific contact points in the 23 Country Sheets included in the second part of book. It provides an overview for governments, European institutions and international organisations by listing facts on how the tax profession operates within a particular State and in particular whether it is regulated or not. The Handbook explains to CFE member organisations and interested practitioners how EU policy, legislation and case law impact on the way the profession operates at national level. Our passion is to inspire professional bodies in and beyond Europe to build or reform the tax profession in their country. We do this by showing approaches other countries have taken in response to common professional issues. It is clear from the 23 Country Sheets that the way tax advisers are regulated throughout Europe differs widely. Nonetheless, it is noted that qualification requirements, professional principles and ethics are indeed consistent and very similar, indifferent of the fact whether the profession is regulated by law or not. This is in part a result of CFE Guidelines on professional standards which present a common ground for CFE members and in part a common commitment by our member bodies to a continuing and high standard of professional excellence. We have taken the opportunity in this second edition to examine a number of issues more closely, in particular the tax adviser’s right of non-disclosure, the approach to anti-money laundering legislation and the relation of tax v Foreword advisers to other professions with similar or shared competences like lawyers, accountants and auditors. In addition the edition dedicates a section to examining current policy developments in professional affairs specifically reacting not only to State efforts to raise tax revenues but also to the European Commission’s effort to stimulate economic growth through deregulation of services. We believe that this Handbook is an important step towards the attainment of a truly European tax profession and can, through the support given by tax advisers to their client businesses, contribute to the development of cross border supplies and services and the completion of the internal market. We will follow a similar distribution programme to that of the first edition and will include CFE’s partner organisations in Asia, Oceania and West Africa. We intend to increase visibility for all CFE member organisations and highlight tax advisers as members of a diverse, distinct and ethical global profession. We would like to thank our member bodies for their contributions to this work and, especially, we would like to thank our cooperation partner, IBFD, for their generous support in making this Handbook available. Ian E. Hayes, Chairman of the CFE Professional Affairs Committee, 2011-2012 Dick G. Barmentlo, Chairman of the CFE Professional Affairs Committee vi From the idea to the Handbook: The methodology of the project Like the first edition of this Handbook published in December 2010, this second edition is based on a survey on the organisation of the tax profession in CFE countries. Work on this update started in April 2012 with the development of an extended questionnaire covering most of the issues addressed in the 2010 Handbook but putting more emphasis in particular on topical issues like the right of non-disclosure and anti money laundering, political developments like new approaches of “enhanced cooperation” between taxpayers, tax authorities and tax advisers and the relation between tax advisers and neighbouring professions like lawyers, accountants and auditors. Input to the draft questionnaire has been provided by PAC members Hanna Filipczyk (Poland), Heather Brehcist and Terry Davies (both UK) and Moritz Alt (Germany). The questionnaire contained 71 questions plus related sub-questions in mul- tiple choice format with space for additional explanations. It was e-mailed to the members of the CFE Professional Affairs Committee, the 32 CFE member and observer organisations and three tax professional bodies out- side the CFE in May and June 2012. Responses from 23 countries were received by December 2012. In most countries, the answers were given by tax practitioners, in other countries by staff of the professional bodies. While some member organisations have formally approved their answers through their governing bodies, other responses may reflect individual views of the responding person. The responses were reviewed by the editor for consis- tency but generally not for accuracy of content. Where necessary, requests for clarification of single answers were sent to respondents. On the basis of responses and clarifications received and supplemented by publically available data, 23 Country Sheets (Part II of this Handbook) were drafted and sent to respondents in November and December 2012 for final review. Editorial deadline was 21 December 2012. In parallel, Part I of this Handbook was drafted as a “horizontal” part, sum- marizing and analysing the information received topic by topic and set- ting out the EU law context and its impacts on regulation at national level. Answers have been grouped and presented in coloured charts to better display common elements and divergences. This Handbook has been the first and is, to our knowledge, still the only comprehensive overview on how the tax profession is organised throughout vii From the idea to the Handbook: The methodology of the project Europe. Other surveys dealing with similar topics have been conducted in the meantime, e.g. the European Commission’s Performance Check – Business Services (see Section 14.1.1 in Part I of this Handbook). The data in this Handbook has been collected from scratch, not taking over information from the 2010 edition (except for Italy and Luxembourg where the 2010 information has been checked and updated and Malta where the 2010 information has been re-used). It has also been collected independently, not relying on data gathered in any surveys by other organisations. viii From the idea to the Handbook: The methodology of the project It goes without saying that any attempt to visualise a highly complex matter such as different regulation in different countries will imply a certain degree of simplification. When interpreting the answers, an editor has a degree of latitude on how to classify them into easy-to-display and easy-to-compare categories. To this end, it is essential to have a background understanding of the situation of the profession in the countries surveyed. The work previ- ously undertaken by CFE has been very valuable in creating awareness in this regard. Rudolf Reibel, LL.M., CFE Fiscal and Professional Affairs Officer ix From the idea to the Handbook: The methodology of the project x Member and Observer Organisations of the CFE Member Organisations AT Kammer der Wirtschaftstreuhänder BE Institut des Experts-Comptables et des Conseils Fiscaux de Belgique / Instituut van de Accountants en de Belastingcon- sulenten CH Treuhand-Kammer / Chambre Fiduciaire CZ Komora Daňových Poradců ČR DE Bundessteuerberaterkammer Bundesverband der Steuerberater e.V. Deutscher Steuerberaterverband e.V. ES Asociación Española de Asesores Fiscales Registro de

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