Skip to main content
Guide to mutual agreement procedures

Incomplete mutual agreement procedure request

Once the request of a mutual agreement procedure has been received by the register of the competent authority, that authority will have three months to examine its content. If, in that time, the competent authority finds that the request for initiation of the mutual agreement procedure is not complete or contains errors, it may request that the applicant amend the errors or provide additional information, within three months of the day following notification of that request (Article 10 of the Regulation on Mutual Agreement Procedures).

In that same period of three months, the competent authority may ask the applicant to answer any questions arising in the examination of the documentation provided, or to provide any additional information necessary to consider the request. The applicant will have three months, from the day following notification of the request, to provide the information required.

In the case of mutual agreement procedures conducted under the mechanism established in Directive (EU) 2017/1852, an applicant receiving any of the above requests must send their response, simultaneously, to the competent authorities of all Member States concerned. However, where the applicant:

  • is an individual; or

  • is not a large undertaking and does not form part of a large group, in accordance with Article 3(4) and (7) of Directive 2013/34/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013,

they may send their response solely to the competent authority of the state where they are resident for tax purposes, which, within two months of the date on which the response is received by its register, will send a notification, simultaneously, to the competent authorities of the other Member States concerned, together with a copy of the information submitted. The information will be deemed to have been received by all of the states concerned on the date on which it is received by the register of the competent authority of the State of residence.

In the case of mutual agreement procedures conducted under an applicable Tax Treaty or the Arbitration Convention, failure to comply with any of the above requests within the time limit specified will result in the proceedings being dismissed and the request for initiation will be regarded as not having been submitted.

If, on the other hand, the procedure is being conducted under the mechanism established in Directive (EU) 2017/1852, repeated failure to comply with such requests within the time limit specified may, following consultations with the competent authorities of the other Member States concerned, result in the termination of the procedure.