Administrative transnationality in tax matters: from non-cooperation to shared administration

After giving an overview of the historical evolution of the concept of cooperation in fiscal matters, the chapter describes those situations in which a system of mutual recognition of foreign tax decisions seems to be at work. What emerges is that, under the label of mutual recognition, States retain a wide margin of discretion in defence of their sovereignty and in contrast to a genuine sense of reciprocal trust. Thereafter, an analysis is made of the elements of international and EU practice showing the emergence of a new cooperative model based on the active participation of various national tax administrations in a common procedure. These elements of practice raise the question of the protection of the rights of the persons involved in the new forms of shared administration . It is pointed out that such protection is not always adequate, in deference to the traditional need to preserve the public interest, although important progress is being made in the European context thanks to the case law of the Court of Justice.