EFAMA commented on the current VAT rules for financial services and their functioning, as well as on possible changes to these rules, in a public consultation of the European Commission.
EFAMA discusses all relevant tax topics with importance to the European asset management industry, such as Tax transparency packages or EU FTT, OECD topics including several actions inserted in the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project, and all kinds of national developments in case they have an impact on regulated EU investment funds. The focus lays on mainstream funds but we may discuss alternative investment fund tax-related issues, if they are of broad relevance.
EFAMA commented on the current VAT rules for financial services and their functioning, as well as on possible changes to these rules, in a public consultation of the European Commission.
The Commission launched a public consultation ahead of the presentation of a legislative proposal to introduce an EU Digital Levy by January 2023. For EFAMA, any new tax legislation on “digital activities” (or “digital transactions”) should not be borne by the end-investors. Our understanding is that the industry’s activities should not be in scope of the new tax.
The fund and asset management industry is a highly regulated industry operating under significant and specific legal, regulatory, transfer pricing and tax frameworks.
Pillar 1: Investment funds are structured as tax neutral investment pooling vehicles as a matter of
public policy.
Pillar 2: The role that investment funds play in providing investors with a diversified portfolio and global market access is essential.
The Commission’s initiative to simplify EU law in direct taxation, with its focus on reducing administrative burdens, eliminating outdated/overlapping rules, and improving consistency and application across Member States, is urgently needed to ensure the EU's competitiveness.
This article was published in the 23rd edition of the Fact Book on 24 June 2025.