In recent months, insurers have been grappling with a number of tax developments that will deeply affect their business outlook. The changes have come from different quarters—new direct tax rules such as minimum and wealth tax; a whole raft of fiscal reform measures; and new requirements pertaining to tax transparency and the automatic exchange of information under FATCA, CRS and DAC2.

Insurers have to pay particular attention to tax transparency and to the new rules introduced by BEPS. In addition, they have to ensure that profits are correctly allocated within groups, VAT is properly handled, transfer pricing principles are adopted and respected, and country-by-country reporting, in the shorter term, is fully implemented.

In December, our tax experts shared their experience of the most relevant, concrete, current and important difficulties met by insurers, and the elements which must be considered in terms of governance and the implementation of IT projects. Key messages from this conference include the game changer that BEPS action 7 on permanent establishment represents for a Luxembourg insurance market built on the freedom to provide services, the importance of documentation and transfer pricing documentation and the upcoming FATCA/CRS reporting for which KPMG has designed a unique solution based on integrated and automated reporting tool.

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