THE UNSHELL DIRECTIVE PROPOSAL IN A NUTSHELL: OPEN QUESTIONS
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https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2113-2566
Abstract
The paper analyses the recent European Commission’s Proposal for a Council Directive laying down rules to prevent the misuse of shell entities for tax purposes and amending Directive 2011/16/EU, commonly referred to as the Unshell Directive Proposal. The author firstly identifies the features of the existing EU legislative framework contributing to the widespread utilization of shell entities for tax avoidance purposes and clarifies the policy context in which the Unshell Directive Proposal was drafted. She further provides a detailed analysis of the anti-avoidance mechanism introduced thereby and discusses a number of questions which the said mechanism raises. In addition, the author assesses its effects on Serbian corporate taxpayers. She concludes that the envisaged anti-avoidance mechanism deserves further refinement, not least in regards to its interaction with Member States’ general anti-avoidance measures, as well as with respect to the economic substance indicators on which it is based.
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References
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