This is one more step in the fight against fraud facilitated by digital currencies. This Tuesday, May 16, the finance ministers of the European Union approved new tax transparency rules for companies active in crypto-asset transactions. These measures are supposed to harmonize the fight against fraud on a European scale, and thus replace the national frameworks put in place by certain Member States, including France. They should enter into force on January 1, 2026, after an advisory opinion from the European Parliament.
Improved ability to “detect and combat fraud”
Initially, these new obligations “will improve the ability of Member States to detect and combat fraud, avoidance and evasion in the field of taxation”, welcomed the European Commission, at the origin of the text. . The directive will require all EU-based crypto-asset service providers, regardless of size, to report transactions for their EU-resident customers.
The scope will also include reporting obligations for financial institutions with respect to e-money and central bank digital currencies, as well as the automatic exchange of information on tax rulings. So many mechanisms used today by wealthy people to reduce their taxation by taking advantage of accommodating regulations abroad. “Today, we are strengthening administrative cooperation rules and closing loopholes that have been used to avoid income taxation. This reduces the risk of crypto-assets being used for tax evasion and fraud,” said said Swedish Finance Minister Elisabeth Svantesson, quoted in a statement.
A supplement to the regulation on crypto-asset markets
These new rules approved on Tuesday also complement the regulation on crypto-asset markets (MiCA) and the regulation on transfers of funds (TFR) approved on April 20 by the European Parliament. These two regulations were also definitively adopted on Tuesday by the finance ministers of the 27 EU member countries meeting in Brussels, completing their legislative process.
They will make it possible to better fight against illicit activities such as money laundering and the financing of terrorism, but also to better protect consumers. Until now, transfers of virtual assets, such as bitcoins, have escaped European financial services legislation.