Proposal for a COUNCIL DIRECTIVE repealing Council Directive 2003/48/EC
Date: 2015-03-18
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Austria, administrative cooperation, capital movement, double taxation, exchange of information, impact study, savings, tax collection

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 18.3.2015  COM(2015) 129 final 2015/0065 (CNS)   Proposal for a COUNCIL DIRECTIVE repealing Council Directive 2003/48/EC  
 
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

1. 

CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL 

In  2003,  the  Council  adopted  a  Directive  on  the  taxation  of  savings  income  received  in  the 
form of interest payments (the Savings Directive). This Directive served two main purposes: 
avoiding  distortions  to  the  movement  of  capital  and  allowing  effective  taxation  of  interest 
payments made from paying agents established in one Member State to individuals resident in 
another  Member  State.  The  Savings  Directive  facilitates  the  taxation  of  this  type  of  interest 
payment  in  accordance  with  the  laws  of  the  Member  State  of  residence  of  the  individual 
receiving the savings income, by way of requesting automatic exchange of information on the 
interest  payments  being  made  to  those  individuals.  The  provisions  of  the  Directive  became 
applicable  on  1  July  2005,  were  extended  to  Bulgaria  and  Romania  as  an  effect  of  the 
accession of these countries on 1 January 2007, and to Croatia as an effect of the accession of 
this country on 1 July 2013. 

The Directive was the result of the Presidency Conclusions of the European Council of 19-20 
June  2000,  when  Member  States  agreed  that,  in  order  to  implement  the  principle  that  all 
citizens should pay tax due on all their savings income, exchange of information, “on as wide 
a  basis  as  possible”,  shall  be  the  ultimate  objective  of  the  EU  in  line  with  international 
developments. 

The Directive, as  adopted in  2003, covered individuals’  savings  income resulting  from debt 
claims  (either  classical  interest  income  or  capital  gains  on  debt  securities)  received  either 
directly or through investment funds, or through some other intermediary untaxed entities. It 
introduced provisions on the automatic exchange of information on this savings income paid 
by paying agents established in one Member State to individuals resident in another Member 
State. All Member States except Belgium, Luxembourg and Austria immediately introduced 
systems  for  reporting  information  automatically.  Belgium,  Luxembourg  and  Austria  were 
allowed  during  a  transitional  period  to  levy  a  withholding  tax  instead  of  providing 
information,  at  a  rate  of  15 %  for  the  first  three  years  following  the  entry  into  force  of  the 
Directive (until 30 June 2008), at a rate of 20 % for the following three years (until 30 June 
2011), and at a rate of 35 % thereafter. The rules stipulated that 75 % of the revenue from this 
withholding tax be transferred to the investor’s Member State of residence. Belgium decided 
to  stop  applying  the  transitional  withholding  tax  as  of  1  January  2010  and  to  exchange 
information in the same way as other Member States. Luxembourg has done the same as of 1 
January 2015. 

Equivalent measures to those of the Savings Directive have been applied, from 1 July 2005, in 
five  non-EU  European  countries,  including  Switzerland,  in  regard  to  savings  income  paid 
there  to  EU  resident  individuals.  Measures  identical  to  those  of  the  Directive  have  been 
applied, from the same date, in ten dependent or associated territories of EU Member States 
(twelve following the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles) through the implementation of 
bilateral agreements that each of these jurisdictions signed with each of the Member States. 
Following Saint-Barthélemy’s change of status, France has undertaken that Saint-Barthélemy 
will  apply  both  the  current  and  future  provisions  of  both  the  Savings  Directive  and  the 
Directive on Administrative Cooperation. 

Following  the  first  review  of  the  Savings  Directive,  the  Commission  proposed  a  number  of 
amendments  in  November  2008,  with  a  view  to  closing  existing  loopholes  and  more 
effectively  preventing  tax  evasion.  The  proposed  amendments  sought  to  improve  the 
Directive by strengthening measures to ensure that interest payments were subject to taxation. 
The scope of the provisions on intermediate structures was therefore extended. The proposal 

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also  extended  the  scope  of  the  Directive  to  income  from  instruments  equivalent  to  debt 
instruments,  i.e.  innovative  financial  products  and  certain  life  insurance  products.  The 
amendments  were  adopted  by  the  Council  under  Directive  2014/48/EU  of  24  March  20141 
(the Amending  Savings Directive). Article 2 of  this Directive stipulates that  Member States 
must  adopt  and  publish  the  laws,  regulations  and  administrative  provisions  necessary  to 
comply with the Directive by 1 January 2016. Member States would be obliged to apply these 
provisions from 1 January 2017. 

While  asking  the  Council  to  proceed  to  the  formal  adoption  of  the  Amending  Savings 
Directive, the European Council of 21 March 2014 concluded that the Global Standard being 
developed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) shall be 
the method for automatic exchange of information that the EU will apply within its borders. 
The European Council did so by inviting the Council to ensure that, with the further adoption 
by the end of 2014 of an amended text for the Directive on Administrative Cooperation, EU 
law is fully aligned with the new global standard.  

On  12  June  2013,  the  Commission  had  actually  proposed  amendments  to  Directive 
2011/16/EU on Administrative Cooperation in the field of Taxation. The main purpose of the 
proposal  was  to  provide  Member  States  with  an  appropriate  EU-level  legal  basis  for 
implementing the global standard on automatic exchange of information (the global standard) 
being developed by the OECD. The scope of the proposed Amending Directive is very broad, 
as  it  covers  all  types  of  financial  products  (with  specific  exemptions)  held  directly  or 
indirectly  by  individuals  or  by  “non-public”  entities.  This  Amending  Directive  was  adopted 
on  9  December  2014  –  Council  Directive  2014/107/EU2  (the  Amending  Directive  on 
Administrative  Cooperation).  Article  2  of  this  Directive  stipulates  that  Member  States  must 
adopt  and  publish  the  laws,  regulations  and  administrative  provisions  necessary  to  comply 
with the Directive by 31 December 2015. They are required to apply these provisions from 1 
January  2016  and  to  start  exchanging  information  by  September  2017.  Austria  received  a 
derogation under Article 2(2), on the grounds of structural differences, and is allowed to start 
applying the Directive up to one year later than other Member States. At the time of adopting 
the Directive, Austria announced that it would not make full use of the derogation. It would 
start  exchanging  information  by  September  2017  on  a  limited  set  of  accounts  (only  new 
accounts opened during the period 1 October 2016 - 31 December 2016), while making use of 
the derogation for other accounts. 

The  last  subparagraph  of  the  new  Article  8(3a)  introduced  by  the  Amending  Directive  on 
Administrative  Cooperation  states  clearly  that  the  provisions  contained  in  this  paragraph 
(paragraph  3a)  will  take  precedence  over  the  revised  Savings  Directive.  Since  there  is 
significant overlap between the two Directives, there would thus be only a few cases where 
the revised Savings Directive would still apply. 

This  small  number  of  cases  arises  in  essence  for  three  reasons.  Firstly,  the  Amending 
Directive  on  Administrative  Cooperation  sets  reporting  obligations  on  Financial  Institutions 
that  are  entities  as  defined  therein.  Therefore,  unlike  the  Savings  Directive,  it  does  not  set 
reporting obligations on individuals (e.g. brokers) that may pay financial income. Secondly, 
there  are  some  exemptions  in  the  Amending  Directive  on  Administrative  Cooperation  with 
regard  to  certain  pension/retirement  funds,  credit  card  issuers,  regulated  tax-favoured 
accounts and similar financial institutions and products that pose a low risk for tax evasion. 

COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 2014/48/EU of 24 March 2014 amending Directive 2003/48/EC on taxation of 

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savings income in the form of interest payments (OJ L111, 15.4.2014, p. 50). 
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mandatory automatic exchange of information in the field of taxation (OJ L359, 16.12.2014, p. 1). 

COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 2014/107/EU of 9 December 2014 amending Directive 2011/16/EU as regards 

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Thirdly, the paying agent on receipt approach in Article 4(2) of the Savings Directive covers 
also interest paid by a non-participating jurisdiction through a Member State’s paying agent 
on  receipt;  in  addition,  the  look-through  approach  under  Article  2(3)  and  enhanced  paying 
agent  on  receipt  approach  under  Article  4(2)  of  the  revised  Savings  Directive  cover  also 
income  paid  through  "Active"  non-financial  entities,  as  long  as  they  are  tax-exempt.  These 
residual  cases  exist  as  a  result  of  slight  differences  in  the  approaches  taken  by  the  Savings 
Directive  and  the  Amending  Directive  on  Administrative  Cooperation,  and  specific 
exemptions included in the two Directives. The effect of these residual cases being covered or 
not by the EU legislation under discussion here is marginal in the context of the overall scope 
of  the  Amending  Directive  on  Administrative  Cooperation.  The  international  application  of 
the global standard and the close supervision of its implementation by the Global Forum on 
Transparency  and  Exchange  of  Information  will  minimise  any  risks  associated  with  these 
residual cases. 

It  follows that  the  benefit  to  be  gained  from  keeping  the two  legal  instruments  operating in 
parallel  would  be  minimal.  While  the  above-mentioned  carve-out  provided  for  by  the  new 
Article  8(3a)  introduced  by  the  Amending  Directive  on  Administrative  Cooperation  could 
have served to avoid the reporting under the Savings Directive in most of the cases, the co-
existence of two legal instruments with a substantially similar scope is not in line with better 
regulation  principles  and  the  interest  of  clarity  and  legal  certainty.  In  addition,  keeping  the 
two legal systems operating in parallel would mean having two sets of similar, but not fully 
aligned, customer due diligence rules, procedures and reporting systems — both in respect of 
financial  institutions  reporting  to  competent  authorities,  and  of  competent  authorities 
exchanging  information  between  themselves.  The  cost  of  this  would  greatly  outweigh  the 
benefits of the additional coverage given by the Savings Directive. 

In  order  to  make  sure  that  there  is  only  one  applicable  standard  for  automatic  exchange  of 
information within the EU, and to avoid situations where two standards are applied in parallel, 
the Savings Directive should be repealed.  

In order not to leave any gaps in the reporting, the repeal of the Savings Directive needs to be 
well  coordinated  with  the  timing  of  the  application  of  the  Amending  Directive  on 
Administrative  Cooperation,  taking  particular  account  of  the  extension  of  the  timeline  for 
application granted to Austria. 

Since the objective of this proposal for a Directive, namely the repeal of the Savings Directive 
with the temporary exceptions necessary to protect the acquired rights and to take account of 
the  derogation  allowed  to  Austria  under  the  Amending  Directive  on  Administrative 
Cooperation,  cannot  be  sufficiently  achieved  by  the  Member  States  and  can  therefore,  by 
reason  of  the  uniformity  and  effectiveness  required,  be  better  achieved  at  the  level  of  the 
Union, the Union may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set 
out  in  Article  5  of  the  Treaty  on  the  European  Union.  In  accordance  with  the  principle  of 
proportionality,  as  set  out  in  that  Article,  this  proposal  for  a  Directive  does  not  go  beyond 
what is necessary in order to achieve that objective. 

2. 

RESULTS OF CONSULTATIONS WITH THE INTERESTED PARTIES AND 
IMPACT ASSESSMENTS 

The  European  Council  Conclusions  of  21  March  2014  and  the  Economic  and  Financial 
Affairs Council Statement of 9 December 2014 demonstrate Member States clear preference 
for having only one standard for the automatic exchange of information on financial income. 
This  standard  has  now  been  fully  implemented  through  the  Amending  Directive  on 
Administrative Cooperation. 

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In  meetings  of  the  Commission  expert  group  on  the  taxation  of  savings  income,  experts 
stressed the importance of having one system by which information is reported automatically 
for  the  purpose  of  direct  taxation.  They  explained  that  the  parties  they  represent  —  EU 
financial institutions and intermediaries — wished to avoid duplication of reporting systems. 
The  export  group  also  reported  that  the  sector  was  already  introducing  new  or  adapting 
existing IT systems in preparation for US  Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) 
reporting  and  emphasised  the  need  for  future  EU  legislation  on  the  automatic  exchange  of 
financial  account  information  to  be  aligned  with  the  OECD  global  standard  on  automatic 
exchange  of  information  (which  is  itself  based  on  customer  due  diligence  principles 
developed in FATCA), in order to reduce compliance and administrative burdens. 

As outlined above, repealing the Savings Directive will have a very marginal effect, if any, on 
the  effectiveness  of  automatic  exchange  of  information  as  resulting  from  the  Amending 
Directive  on  Administrative  Cooperation  and  essentially  constitutes  a  measure  of  better 
regulation. Consequently, no impact assessment has been prepared. 

3. 

LEGAL ELEMENTS OF THE PROPOSAL 

Article 1 enacts the repeal of the Directive. It coordinates the repeal with the application of 
the Amending Directive on Administrative Cooperation by Member States.  

Article  1(1)(a)  and  Article  1(1)(b)  encompass  the  core  reporting  and  information  exchange 
obligations foreseen in Article 4(2) and, respectively, in Article 8 and Article 9 of the Savings 
Directive. 

Article  1(1)(a)  provides  that  economic  operators  and  the  Member  States  where  those  are 
established shall report and exchange the information that has been collected for 2015. That 
information  relates  to  paying  agents  on  receipt  under  Article  4(2)  of  the  Savings  Directive 
established  in  other  Member  States,  to  be  reported  under  the  same  deadline  as  foreseen  in 
Article 9, “within six months following the end of the tax year”. This deadline is 30 June 2016 
for  most  Member  States,  but  it  is  5  October  2016  in  the  case  of  the  United  Kingdom.  The 
extension of the application is therefore fixed to encompass also the United Kindom deadline. 
The timeline is left open for any follow-ups and corrections after that date. 

Article  1(1)(b)  provides  that  economic  operators  and  paying  agents  and  the  Member  States 
where those are established shall report and exchange the information that has been collected 
for  2015,  as  provided  in  Article  9  “within  six  months  following  the  end  of  the  tax  year”, 
which  is  30  June  2016 for  most  Member  States,  but  it is  5  October  2016  in  the  case  of  the 
United Kingdom. The extension of the application is therefore fixed to 5 October 2016 with a 
view  to  encompass  also  the  United  Kindom  deadline.  The  timeline  is  left  open  for  any 
complements of information and corrections needed after that date. 

Article 1(2) contains specific provisions to be implemented by Austria. 

Austria will apply the Amending Directive on Administrative Cooperation with a delay that 
will in most cases be one year. Nevertheless, at the time of the adoption of the Directive on 9 
December 2014, Austria committed to exchanging information already in 2017, albeit only on 
a  limited  set  of  accounts  (only  new  accounts  opened  in  the  period  1  October  2016  –  31 
December  2016),  while  retaining  the  derogation  in  other  cases.    Therefore,  Austria  will  in 
general have to apply the Savings Directive for an additional year, except for the limited set of 
accounts  that  will  be  reported  in  2017  under  the  Directive  on  Administrative  Cooperation. 
Unlike  Luxembourg,  Austria  has  not  indicated  that  it  will  apply  automatic  exchange  of 
information under the Savings Directive before the end of the transitional period indicated in 
Article 10 therein. It is also not expected that the conditions for the end of that transitional  

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period  will  be  fulfilled  by  the  date  of  application  by  Austria  of  the  Amending  Directive  on 
Administrative  Cooperation.  Therefore,  for  the  purposes  of  Article  1  paragraph  2  it  is 
assumed that Austria will continue to apply the transitional withholding tax under the Savings 
Directive during 2016, with the exception of the limited set of accounts that will be reported 
by Austria in 2017 under the Amending Directive on Administrative Cooperation.  

Accordingly,  there  is  a  reference  in  Article  1(2)(a)  to  the  obligations  of  Austria  and  the 
underlying obligations of paying agents established therein to transfer the withholding tax on 
interest payments withheld in 2016, in accordance with Article 12 of the Savings Directive. 

Austria  will  also  have  to  fulfil  its  obligations  with  regard  to  the  reporting  by  its  economic 
operators under the last subparagraph of Article 4(2) of the Savings Directive, in cases where 
the  entity  receiving  an  interest  payment  from  those  economic  operators  and  referred  to  in 
Article  11(5)  of  the  same  Directive  has  formally  agreed  to  its  name,  address  and  the  total 
amount of interest paid to it or secured for it being communicated in accordance with the last 
subparagraph  of  Article  4(2)  of  that  Directive.  The  relevant  provision  ensuring  this  is  in 
Article 1(2)(b) of this Proposal. 

In  addition,  should  Austria  provide  for  the  procedure  under  Article  13(1)(a)  of  the  Savings 
Directive,  the  obligations  on  Austria  and  the  underlying  obligations  of  the  paying  agents 
established therein to report under Chapter II of the Savings Directive would also have to be 
respected. The relevant provision ensuring this is in Article 1(2)(c) of this Proposal. 

All the obligations foreseen in Article 1(2) should be fulfilled within six months of the end of 
the tax year in Austria, i.e. 30 June 2017.  

For the limited set of accounts that will be subject to customer due diligence as of 1 October 
2016  and  will  be  reported  in  2017  under  the  Directive  on  Administrative  Cooperation  as 
amended by the related Amending Directive, an exception to the extension of the application 
of the Savings Directive is added in Article 1(3). 

The 27 Member States that will apply the Amending Directive on Administrative Cooperation 
as  of  1  January  2016  will  still  have  to  grant  to  beneficial  owners  resident  therein  the 
certificate  under  Article  13(2)  of  the  Savings  Directive.  Since  the  last  date  where  that 
certificate  would  be  applicable  is  the  last  date  where  Austria  would  apply  withholding  tax 
under  the  Savings  Directive,  the  date  is  fixed  in  Article  1(1)(c)  of  this  Proposal  at  31 
December  2016.  As  Luxembourg  will  apply  the  Savings  Directive  without  levying  a 
withholding  tax  as  of  1  January  2015,  Austria  is  the  only  Member  State  that  will  apply  the 
withholding tax under the Savings Directive in 2015 and 2016. 

The rules for the elimination of any double taxation that might result from the application of 
the transitional withholding tax levied under the Savings Directive would also have to extend 
beyond  the  date  of  application  of  the  Amending  Directive  on  Administrative  Cooperation. 
Subject  to  the  domestic  rules  in  the  specific  Member  State  that  is  to  provide  the  credit  or 
refund according to Article 14 of the Savings Directive, the application of that provision may 
have to extend well beyond the last date when the withholding will be applied, which is 31 
December 2016 for the withholding tax levied in Austria (see Article 1(1)(d) of this Proposal). 
This is a transitional measure protecting acquired rights of beneficial owners under Article 14 
of the Savings Directive with regard to their Member State of residence. 

Article 2 provides that the Directive shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that 
of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union. 

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Article 3 provides that the Directive is addressed to the Member States. 

4. 

BUDGETARY IMPLICATION  

The proposal does not have any budgetary implications.  

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2015/0065 (CNS) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 

repealing Council Directive 2003/48/EC 

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  on  the  Functioning  of  the  European  Union,  and  in  particular 
Article 115 thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission, 

After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national parliaments, 

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament,  

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee,  

Acting in accordance with a special legislative procedure, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

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Building  on  the  consensus  reached  at  the  European  Council  of  20  June  2000  that 
relevant  information  should  be  exchanged  for  tax  purposes  on  as  wide  a  basis  as 
possible,  Council  Directive  2003/48/EC3  has  been  applied  in  Member  States  since  1 
July  2005 with  the aim  of enabling  savings  income in  the form of interest  payments 
made  in  one  Member  State  to  beneficial  owners  who  are  individuals  resident  in 
another Member State to be made subject to effective taxation in accordance with the 
laws  of  the  latter  Member  State,  thus  eliminating  distortions  in  capital  movements 
between Member States incompatible with the internal market. 

The worldwide aspect of the challenges posed by cross-border tax fraud and evasion is 
a  major  focus  of  concern  at  a  global  level  and  within  the  Union.  Unreported  and 
untaxed income considerably reduces national tax revenues. The European Council on 
22 May 2013 welcomed ongoing efforts made in the G8, G20 and the Organisation for 
Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to develop a global standard. 
Directive  2011/16/EU4    provides  for  mandatory  automatic  exchange  of  certain 
information between Member States and for a step-by-step extension of its scope into 
new categories of income and capital, for the purpose of combating cross-border tax 
fraud and evasion.  
On  9  December  2014,  the  Council  adopted  Directive  2014/107/EU5  amending 
Directive 2011/16/EU that extended automatic exchange of information to a full range 
of income in accordance with the Global Standard released by the OECD Council in 

Council  Directive  2003/48/EC  of  3  June  2003  on  taxation  of  savings  income  in  the  form  of  interest 
payments (OJ L 157, 26.6.2003, p. 38). 
Council  Directive  2011/16/EU  of  15  February  2011  on  administrative  cooperation  in  the  field  of 
taxation and repealing Directive 77/799/EEC (OJ L 64, 11.3.2011, p. 1). 
Council  Directive  2014/107/EU  of  9  December  2014  amending  Directive  2011/16/EU  as  regards 
mandatory automatic exchange of information in the field of taxation (OJ L 359, 16.12.2014, p. 1). 

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(5) 

(6) 

(7) 

(8) 

(9) 

(10) 

July 2014 and ensured a coherent, consistent and comprehensive Union-wide approach 
to the automatic exchange of financial account information in the Internal Market. 

Directive  2014/107/EU  is  generally broader  in  scope  than  Directive  2003/48/EC  and 
provides that in cases of overlap of scope, Directive 2014/107/EU prevails. There are 
still residual cases in which only Directive 2003/48/EC would otherwise apply. These 
residual  cases  are  a  consequence  of  slight  differences  in  approach  between  the  two 
directives and of different specific exemptions. Where, in those limited instances, the 
scope  of  Directive  2003/48/EC  lies  outside  the  scope  of  Directive  2014/107/EU,  the 
relevant provisions of Directive 2003/48/EC would continue to apply, resulting in dual 
reporting  standards  within  the  Union.  The  minor  benefits  of  retaining  such  dual 
reporting would be outweighed by the costs. 

On 21 March 2014, the European Council invited the Council to ensure that relevant 
Union law is fully aligned with the new single Global Standard of automatic exchange 
of  information  developed  by  the  OECD.  In  addition,  when  adopting  Directive 
2014/107/EU,  the  Council    invited  the  Commission  to  present  a  proposal  to  repeal 
Directive 2003/48/EC and to coordinate the repealing of that Directive with the date of 
application  set  forth  in  Article  2  of  Directive  2014/107/EU  with  due  regard  to  the 
derogation  provided  therein  for  Austria.  Therefore,  Directive  2003/48/EC  should 
continue to apply to Austria during an additional one-year period. In  the light  of the 
position taken by the Council, the repeal of Directive 2003/48/EC would be needed in 
order to avoid dual reporting obligations and to save costs both for tax administrations 
and economic operators. 
Under Article 2 of  Directive 2014/48/EU6 amending  Directive  2003/48/EC, Member 
States would have to adopt and publish, by 1 January 2016, the laws, regulations and 
administrative provisions necessary to comply with that Directive. They would have to 
apply those provisions as of 1 January 2017. With the repeal of Directive 2003/48/EC, 
Directive 2014/48/EU would no longer have to be transposed. 

To  ensure  the  seamless  continuation  of  automatic  reporting  of  financial  account 
information, the repeal of Directive 2003/48/EC should enter into effect on the same 
day as the date of application set forth in Article 2 of Directive 2014/107/EU. 

Notwithstanding the repeal of Directive 2003/48/EC, information gathered by paying 
agents, economic operators and by Member States until the date of the repeal should 
be processed and transferred as originally envisaged and obligations which arose prior 
to that date should be met. 

In relation to withholding tax levied under the transitional period referred to in Article 
10  of  Directive  2003/48/EC,  Member  States  should,  in  order  to  protect  the  acquired 
rights of beneficial owners, continue to give credit or refunds as originally envisaged 
and  should  issue  certificates  on  request  which  would  enable  beneficial  owners  to 
ensure that withholding tax is not levied. 

(11)  Account should be taken of the fact that, in view of structural differences, Austria has 
been  allowed  a  derogation  under  Article  2(2)  of  Directive  2014/107/EU  with  a 
maximum delay of one year. On the adoption of that Directive, Austria announced that 
it  would  not  make  full  use  of  the  derogation.  Instead,  Austria  will  exchange 
information by September 2017, albeit on a limited set of accounts, while retaining the 
derogation in other cases. Therefore, specific provision should be made to ensure that 

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Council  Directive  2014/48/EU  of  24  March  2014  amending  Directive  2003/48/EC  on  taxation  of 
savings income in the form of interest payments (OJ L 111, 15.4.2014, p. 50). 

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Austria and the paying agents and economic operators established therein continue to 
apply the provisions of Directive 2003/48/EC during the period of derogation, except 
for those accounts which have been made subject to Directive 2014/107/EU amending 
Directive 2011/16/EU. 

(12)  This  Directive respects the fundamental  rights  and observes the principles which are 
recognised in particular by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, 
including  the  right  to  the  protection  of  personal  data,  and  nothing  in  this  Directive 
shall reduce or eliminate those rights. 

(13)  Since the objective of this Directive, namely the repeal of Directive 2003/48/EC with 
the temporary exceptions necessary to protect the acquired rights and to take account 
of  the  derogation  allowed  to  Austria  under  Directive  2014/107/EU,  cannot  be 
sufficiently  achieved  by  the  Member  States  and  can  therefore,  by  reason  of  the 
uniformity and effectiveness required, be better achieved at the level of the Union, the 
Union may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out 
in Article 5 of the Treaty on the European Union. In accordance with the principle of 
proportionality,  as  set  out  in  that  Article,  this  Directive  does  not  go  beyond  what  is 
necessary in order to achieve that objective. 

(14)  Directive 2003/48/EC should therefore be repealed, 

HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE: 

1. 

Directive 2003/48/EC is repealed with effect from 1 January 2016. 

Article 1 

However,  the  following  obligations  under  Directive  2003/48/EC,  as  amended  by 
Directive 2006/98/EC7, shall continue to apply: 

(a)  the  obligations  of  Member  States  and  economic  operators  established  therein 
under  the  second  subparagraph  of  Article  4(2)  of  Directive  2003/48/EC  shall 
continue to apply until 5 October 2016 or until those obligations have been fulfilled; 

(b) the obligations of paying agents under Article 8 and of Member States of paying 
agents  under  Article  9  shall  continue  to  apply  until  5  October  2016  or  until  those 
obligations have been fulfilled; 

(c) the obligations of Member States of residence for tax purposes of the beneficial 
owners under Article 13(2) shall continue to apply until 31 December 2016; 

(d) the obligations of Member States of residence for tax purposes of the beneficial 
owners  under  Article  14,  with  regard  to  withholding  tax  levied  during  2016  and 
previous years, shall continue to apply until those obligations have been fulfilled. 

Notwithstanding  paragraph  1  of  this  Article,  Directive  2003/48/EC,  as  amended  by 
Directive  2006/98/EC,  shall  continue  to  apply  in  its  entirety  with  regard  to  Austria 
until 31 December 2016, with the exception of: 

(a) the obligations of Austria and the underlying obligations of the paying agents and 
economic  operators  established  therein  under  Article  12,  which  shall  continue  to 
apply until 30 June 2017 or until those obligations have been fulfilled; 

Council Directive 2006/98/EC of 20 November 2006 adapting certain Directives in the field of taxation, 
by reason of the accession of Bulgaria and Romania (OJ L 363, 20.12.2006, p. 129). 

2. 

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(b) the  obligations  of  Austria  and  economic  operators established  therein  under  the 
second  subparagraph  of  Article  4(2),  which  shall  continue  to  apply  until  30  June 
2017 or until those obligations have been fulfilled; 

(c)  any  obligations  of  Austria  and  the  underlying  obligations  of  the  paying  agents 
established  therein  arising  directly  or  indirectly  from  the  procedures  referred  to  in 
Article 13, which shall continue to apply until 30 June 2017 or until those obligations 
have been fulfilled. 

Notwithstanding  paragraph  2  of  this  Article,  Directive  2003/48/EC,  as  amended  by 
Directive 2006/98/EC, shall not apply after 1 October 2016 to interest payments with 
regard to accounts for which the reporting and due diligence obligations included in 
Annexes I and II to Directive 2011/16/EU have been fulfilled and for which Austria 
has communicated by automatic exchange the information referred to in Article 8(3a) 
of  Directive  2011/16/EU  within  the  deadline  laid  down  in  Article  8(6)(b)  of 
Directive 2011/16/EU.  

3. 

This Directive shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in 
the Official Journal of the European Union. 

Article 2 

This Directive is addressed to the Member States. 

Done at Brussels, 

Article 3 

For the Council 
The President 

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