Financial Services

In February this year the European Commission said that in 2006 it would present 'a global proposal on the taxation of financial services'. The document that finally emerges is expected to be comprehensive in view of all the effort the Commission has put into financial services in recent years. But any firm proposals are unlikely to be radical. Based on recent experience the Commission is expected to put forward only those proposals on which a consensus in the Council is likely. Some legal certainty on the treatment of financial services is the best that can be expected. This may be achieved by updating the Sixth VAT Directive to exempt services...