Overview
European Commission Releases Anti-Tax Avoidance Package: The European Commission released its anti-tax avoidance package. The package includes an anti-tax avoidance directive that proposes six anti-abuse measures. If the directive is approved by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union, then all EU member states would be required to implement these measures. The package also includes proposals relating to country-by-country reporting and recommended changes to tax treaties. Finally, the package includes a document describing a unified EU approach to working with third-party countries on tax governance matters and a study of the corporate tax rules of member states, and structures used by multinational enterprises, that the commission believes facilitate aggressive tax planning and avoidance.
Miscellaneous Guidance Released:
Notice 2016-13 provides transition relief for Section 529 qualified tuition programs that file on time a 2015 Form 1099-Q, Payments From Qualified Education Programs, that does not reflect the repeal of the aggregation requirement under Section 529(c)(3)(D) applicable to distributions from qualified tuition programs.
Notice 2016-14 provides guidance for fee year 2016 on how the definition of expatriate health plans under the Expatriate Health Coverage Clarification Act of 2014 applies for purposes of the fee imposed by Section 9010 of the Affordable Care Act.
Notice 2016-16 provides that a mid-year change either to a safe harbor plan under Section 401(k) or 401(m) or to such a plan’s safe harbor notice does not violate the safe harbor rules merely because it is a mid-year change, provided that applicable notice and election opportunity conditions are satisfied and the mid-year change is not a prohibited mid-year change, as described in the notice.