EU countries against the Shell Companies Directive?

03.11.2023 The directive proposed by the European Union (EU), directed against shell companies, formally being the third revision of the EU Directive 2016/1164 (Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive, ATAD), is becoming less likely to be adopted in in the planned form in the face of opposition from some participating countries.
The draft directive was published in December 2021 and was proposed as a means of countering the use of shell companies to evade taxation. It establishes minimum requirements for the maintenance of holding companies registered in the EU and provides for punitive measures against those who do not meet the threshold requirements. Initially, it was planned to adopt the Directive by July 2023 and put it into effect in January 2024, but the member States did not reach an agreement on the criteria for the essence of companies. Other important points that need to be finalized are the tax consequences of recognizing a company as a figurehead and the obligations of companies to submit tax information.
The minimum levels of content that are now being set are less strict than it was before. They assume the presence of one resident director in the country who is not the head of more than four unrelated organizations. The requirement remains that the company has its own premises in the relevant jurisdiction, but now their joint use with associated organizations is allowed. The requirement to open and maintain a bank account in an EU Member State has become an alternative criterion for determining the "reality" of a company.
Link to source: https://www.macfarlanes.com/what-we-think/in-depth/2023/atad-3-eu-crackdown-on-shell-entities-is-the...