The Evolution of the Exchange of Information in Direct Tax Matters: The Taxpayer’s Rights under Pressure

Abstract

EU Member States are confronted with a plethora of rules regarding the international exchange of information, mostly due to the adoption of automatic exchange of information as the new standard. The authors provide an overview of the recent developments and examine the recent instruments issued by the EU, OECD and the US. Afterwards, the application and interaction between these instruments is discussed. The authors conclude by stating that the above-mentioned developments have resulted in an erosion of taxpayers’ rights. The protection offered by human rights might prove to be a counterweight in this respect, but the application of human rights to exchange of information procedures is currently still in an embryonal stage.