On December 22, 2021, the European Commission released a proposal for a council directive laying down rules to prevent the misuse of shell entities for tax purposes (the draft directive, also known as the Unshell proposal (COM(2021) 565 final)). The initiative was triggered by the commission’s perception that legal entities with no or minimal substance performing no or very little economic activity continue to risk being used for aggressive tax planning structures.
This article considers the necessity and legal basis of the commission’s actions and analyzes the proposed regime, which would establish new reporting obligations and antiabuse rules targeting shell entities.