As consequências fiscais da proposta de diretiva Unshell

Abstract

The present dissertation focuses on the European Commission’s proposal for a Council Directive laying down rules to prevent the misuse of shell entities for tax purposes and amending Directive 2011/16/EU n.º 2021/0434 (CNS) of 22 December 2021. The proposal falls within the scope of the fight against tax avoidance and evasion and aims to neutralize the harmful tax consequences of introducing entities created with no other purpose than to obtain tax advantages. It establishes a minimal substance test to identify such entities which will fall within the scope of the proposal and will face the foreseen consequences. We will start by referring to what paved the way for the shell companies’ phenomena and what motivated the Commission to draft such a proposal. Then, we briefly introduce the proposal’s regime, referencing the modus operandi that allows identifying entities with no substance. Finally, we will analyze the consequences foreseen by the proposal, where we will focus our attention. We will autonomously examine the two consequences: i) the denial of a tax residence certificate or the issuance of a special one and ii) the disregard of the legal personality. Throughout the analysis, we will identify the main shortcomings of the proposal, and we will propose solutions to ensure the coherence and effectiveness of the proposal with its rationale.

Date of Award	2 Jun 2023
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	João Félix Pinto Nogueira (Supervisor)