On 8 December 2022, the European Commission adopted its proposal amending the EU Directive on administrative
cooperation in the field of taxation, also known as DAC8. This proposal has been highly expected by the industry
and is a positive step forward to improve tax transparency and minimize the risks of under-reporting of taxable
income. DAC8 aligns the European tax transparency requirements with those agreed in August 2022 by the OECD
under its Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) and amended Common Reporting Standards (CRS). EPIF
members were actively involved in the discussions at the OECD level and very much welcome that the European
implementation of CARF and amended CRS remained very close to the international agreement.

As a general note, whilst this international alignment is of crucial importance, EPIF members note that the DAC8 is
only one of a collection of European actions that have been taken to improve protection, stability and transparency
in crypto-asset markets. The soon to be published Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) Regulation creates an already
strong framework for crypto-assets and establishes an important understanding of definitions in the relevant market.
Likewise, there are also ongoing negotiations on the new anti-money laundering rules that are likely to require
enhanced due diligence and KYC measures to these assets. Against this backdrop, EPIF reiterates that it is
important to ensure consistency between all these files.

With regards to the provisions in the proposal, EPIF members consider that the European Commission has reached
a reasonable balance between minimizing the risk of tax avoidance and what is technically feasible for the entities
responsible for the reporting activities. Notwithstanding, certain elements still raise concerns and require additional
clarifications, notably in terms of the in-scope assets and the reporting obligations. These are explored in more
detail below.