Agefi Luxembourg - avril 2026

AGEFI Luxembourg 6 Avril 2026 Économie & Tax ParJérômeTAILLEUR,co-fondateur,HorusSoftware L e Luxembourg s’est imposé comme l’une des principales places financières européennes. Mais cette position s’accompagne d’un environnement réglementaire en constante évolution, qui redéfinit en profondeur lemétier des fidu- ciaires. Entre exigences de trans- parence renforcées, obligations déclarativesmultipliées et structures internationales de plus en plus complexes, la conformité est devenue un enjeu structurant—et, pour les acteurs lesmieux organisés, un véritable levier de différenciation. Un cadre réglementaire qui ne cesse de se densifier Ces dernières années, les obligations pesant sur les sociétés domiciliées au Luxembourg se sont consi- dérablement alourdies. La déclaration des bénéfi- ciaires effectifs au RCSL, les reportings internatio- naux comme le CRS ou la directive DAC6, les règles fiscales spécifiques aux holdings, sociétés de financement ou véhicules d’in- vestissement : autant d’exigences qui s’ac- cumulent et s’imbriquent. Pour les expatriés souhaitant créer une struc- ture au Luxembourg, la complexité est encore plus grande : il leur faut conci- lier les obligations locales avec les implications fiscales dans leur pays de résidence. Cet empilement normatif alourdit indéniablement la charge des fiduciaires. Mais il crée aussi un espace de diffé- renciation pour celles qui parviennent à le maîtriser. De la contrainte à l’avantage compétitif Face à cette complexité, les fiduciaires les plus avan- cées ont opéré un changement de posture : elles ne subissent plus la réglementation, elles l’anticipent. Centralisation des informations fiscales et légales, automatisation des obligations déclaratives, veille réglementaire structurée — ces pratiques permet- tent à la fois de sécuriser les opérations et d’en réduire le coût. Car l’enjeu est aussi économique. Plusieurs études sectorielles, notamment de PwC et Thomson Reuters, estiment que la conformité peut représenter entre 10 et 15 % des coûts opéra- tionnels dans les structures financières.Mieuxmaî- trisée, elle cesse d’être unposte de charge subi pour devenir un facteur de performance. Au-delàde l’efficacité interne, cettemaîtrise renforce la relation client. Une fiduciaire capable d’offrir une gestionfluide et fiablede la conformité sepositionne naturellement comme un partenaire de confiance pour une clientèle internationale, souvent exposée à des obligations croisées dans plusieurs juridictions. Le digital, accélérateur de cette transformation Cette évolution ne serait pas possible sans l’appui d’outils adaptés. La digitalisation des processus est devenue un passage obligé pour toute fidu- ciaire souhaitant absorber la complexité réglemen- taire sans en répercuter intégralement le coût sur ses clients. La facturation électronique illustre bien cette dynamique. En structurant l’émission, la réception et la traçabilité des factures dès la création de la société, elle sécurise les flux, réduit les risques d’er- reurs et simplifie les obligations déclaratives. Des solutions comme Falco, intégrées au réseau Peppol et conformes aux standards européens, permettent aux sociétés de s’inscrire d’emblée dans cette logique. L’enjeuva cependant au-delàde la facturation isolée. C’est l’articulation entre les outils de la société et ceuxde soncomptablequi fait ladifférence. Lorsque la facturationélectronique est connectée à la solution comptablede lafiduciaire—comme c’est le cas avec l’intégrationde Falco etHorus Software—, la trans- missiondes documents devient fluide, les échanges manuels se réduisent et le suivi des structures gagne en fiabilité. Une chaîne digitale cohérente, de la col- lecte des données à leur traitement comptable. Conclusion La pression réglementaire qui s’exerce sur la domi- ciliationetlaconstitutiondesociétésauLuxembourg n’est pas près de se relâcher. Mais elle n’est pas une fatalité. Pour les fiduciaires capables de s’organiser en conséquence — en structurant leurs processus, en s’appuyant sur des outils performants et en culti- vant une véritable expertise de la conformité—, elle devient un avantage concurrentiel durable. Dans un marché où la confiance est le principal actif, savoir transformer la complexité en valeur ajoutée est peut-être la compétence la plus straté- gique qui soit. Domiciliations et constitutions de société au Luxembourg : faire de la contrainte réglementaire un avantage compétitif S ome years simply register as rou- tine chapters in an administra- tion’s ongoing evolution. Others —without being transformative in a dramatic sense—reveal a system adjusting to the growing complexity of its environment. Based on the recent annual reporting by Luxembourg’s direct tax admi- nistration (1) , the country appears to be entering a newphase: not by reinventing itself, but by facing today’s tax challenges head-on and adopting amore proactive posture to keeppacewith an increasingly fast- changing landscape. What emerges is an administration that is not loud- er, but sharper; not fundamentally different, but undeniably more capable and continuously improving. Nowhere is this more visible than in the widening field of tax controversy, where mod- ern tools, new data sources and growing interna- tional obligations converge. The quiet reconfiguration of a digital administration Digitalizationdidnot arriveovernight, but its cumu- lativeeffectsbecamemosttangiblein2025inthearea of corporate income taxation. The way companies interactwith the tax system—throughfilings, infor- mationexchanges,andcross-borderreporting—has undergone a profound transformation over time. Interactive filing via MyGuichet.lu continued to expand with more than 120,000 corporate tax returns filed and over 140,000 declarations of with- holding tax on salaries and subsidized tax credits (model 950) submitted. This constitutes a clear con- tinuation of the steady rise observed over the pre- vious years. These digital touchpoints, small in iso- lation, collectively provide a much denser picture of corporate activities, revenue flows, and group structures. Taken together, they reveal a systemthat could shift frommerely collecting corporate data to structuring it for analytical use. The administration could no longer encounters information passively; it receives it inconsistent,machine-readable formats, integrates it across internal databases, and could rely on it to formamore coherent viewof a company’s activities. This approach is reinforcedby thegrowingmaturity of the administration’s data-science and analytics function, which, after exceeding 100 advanced anal- yses in 2024, reached 150 in 2025. These analyses coverawiderangeofworkstreams,fromdescriptive and predictive statistics to the production of policy- oriented indicators but also include more sophisti- cated exercises such as microsimulations used in support of major legislative reforms. Inparallel, the teamhas developeddedicated simu- lation environments to support internal decision- making and policy evaluation, further embedding data-drivenreasoningintotheadministration’soper- atingmodel. This development continued in 2025, not with high- profile announcements but through day-to-day operational refinements. The increasingly digital- ized tax environment allows the identification of anomalies and consequently targeted requests for clarification. These are not signs of a more aggres- sive system; they are the natural consequence of a tax authority that now sees its data earlier, more clearly, and in greater detail. What initially appeared to be modest digital improvements ultimately reshaped the administra- tion’s visibility on corporate taxpayers. Cross-border issues, in particular, became easier to detect. The Directive on Administrative Coopera- tion (“DAC”) 6 (2) andDAC7 (3) disclosures, Country- by-CountryReporting (“CbCR”) data, andCountry ReportingStandard (“CRS”) informationconverged into a more complete fiscal portrait. What once emerged only through fragmented reviews could now be examined systematically, through an auto- mated analysis. This shift did not make the system more aggressive: it made it more aware. The administration is no longer only processing tax information; it is organizing it, interconnecting it, and using it to identify anomalies well before tax assessments are finalized. StrengtheningBoth the Interface and the Expertise A further illustration of the ongoing evolution is the strengthening of the administration’s front-line com- municationinfrastructure.Inrecentyears,the Contact Center hasbecomea central entrypoint for taxpayers, handlingmorethantwenty-seventhousandinquiries and providing structured, multilingual support. Its 2025 expansion — including a dedicated helpline guiding individuals through online filing — reflects theadministration’sintenttoresolveissuesearlierand reduce friction in taxpayer interactions. The creationof aTransfer Pricing (“TP”) competence centerisalsoanemblematicstep. Itreflectstheadmin- istration’s intention tobuilddedicated technical expertisetodealwithincreasinglycomplexTP rules. By centralizingTP skills, the administra- tion aims to strengthen its ability to analyze methods, data, anddocumentation ina consis- tent and informedmanner. AdvanceDecisions in the Post-BEPSEnvironment In 2025, the advanceddecision ac- tivityincreasedmarkedly,with47 decisions issued compared to 32 in2024 (+47%). Of these, 45were advance tax rulings (“ATR”) and twowereadvancepricingagree- ments (APA). Favorable deci- sionsrosefrom27in2024to39in 2025, while unfavorable deci- sions increased from5 to 8. This marked increase raises the question of its underlyingdrivers. Itmay reflect the growing com- plexity of the tax landscape, shaped by successive reforms such as the Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive (“ATAD”) measures, the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (“BEPS”) agenda, and the implementation of Pillar Two, which have increased the need for advance clarification. TaxControversy: the newcenter of gravity The most tangible indicator of this adaptive posture lies in the field of tax controversy. Here, numbers speakmore clearly than rhetoric. In2025,theadministration’srevisionserviceconduct- ed 55 detailed audits, generatingnearly €3million in adjustments, while 79 additional audits remained ongoing at year-end. By comparison, in 2024, the samenumberofdetailedauditsresultedinmorethan €7.5millionadjustments,withafurther58auditsstill in progress at year-end. Similarly, administrative complaints continued to exceed1,800casesin2025,whilejudicialappealsrose markedly to 235 new cases in 2025, compared with 148 in 2024. These figures reflect a level of activity that has not only remained high but has steadily increased over recent years. The number of cases brought before theAdministrative Tribunal broadly mirrored the evolution in the number of director- level decisions issued. Notably, these cases have become increasinglycomplex, encompassingawide range of issues at both national and European level, including matters relating to taxation, guarantees, and exchanges of information. LuxembourgWithin the International Tax Framework Luxembourg’s position in the international tax envi- ronment reinforces thisdynamic. The administration now closes over 100 Multilateral Agreement Procedures (“MAP”) cases annually, participates in OrganisationforEconomicCo-operationandDevelopment (“OECD”) Inclusive Framework working groups, and prepares for the next generation of EU trans- parencyinstruments(suchasDAC8oncrypto-assets). The treaty network continues to grow (88 in force at the end of 2025), and synthesized texts of tax treaties modified by the Multilateral Instrument are now available formore than 60 jurisdictions. This interna- tional posture is equally evident in the administra- tion’s exchange-of-information activity. Morethan4millionautomaticexchangeswerecarried out in 2025, notably under CRS, FATCA, DAC6 and DAC7. Alongside these automated flows, the tax authorities continue to process spontaneous and on- requestexchanges,underscoringtheiralignmentwith EUandOECDcooperation standards. Anotherimportant,butoftenunderstateddimension, ismutual assistance in tax recovery. The taxadminis- tration increasingly relies onEU-levelmechanisms to enforce claims abroad and, reciprocally, processes recovery requests fromotherMember States. In2025, it handled 2,614 such cases — 1,631 received from abroadand983senttoforeignauthorities.Thisgrow- ing activity shows a system that not only exchanges information effectively but also ensures cross-border enforcement of taxdebts. ASystemAdapting to its Environment What emerges fromthesedevelopments is neither a radical reinvention nor continuity disguised as reform. It is a system facing the realities of modern taxation— complexity, cross-border mobility, plat- form economies, transparency obligations — and adaptingitselfaccordingly.Theadministrationisnot pushing a newera onto taxpayers; rather, it is align- ing itself with the era taxpayers already live in. For taxpayers, the implications are practical: coher- ence matters more, documentation matters earlier, andalignment betweendomestic and foreignfilings is no longer optional. For Luxembourg, it marks a natural progression towardoperationalmaturity:ataxadministrationthat adjustsitstools,processesandexpectationstoremain up to date in a world where information flows are instantaneous and cooperation is no longer optional. Hélène CRÉPIN, Tax Partner, Tax Controversy Leader Tom LAMBOT, Senior, International Tax and Transaction Services (ITTS) EY Luxembourg 1) Rapport d’activité 2025 du ministère des Finances – Annexe Administration des contributions directes is available at the fol- lowinglink :https://urls.fr/aKEBEC 2)COUNCILDIRECTIVE(EU)2018/822of25May2018amend- ing Directive 2011/16/EU provides for mandatory automatic exchange of information in relation to reportable cross-border arrangements.DAC6requiresEU-basedintermediariesor,under certain circumstances, taxpayers to report to their tax authorities about cross-border arrangements that fulfil specific criteria. Information on these arrangements is then submitted by tax authoritiesinadedicatedDAC6CentralDirectorywhichisacces- sibletoothertaxauthoritiesintheEU. 3) COUNCIL DIRECTIVE (EU) 2021/514 of 22 March 2021 amendingDirective2011/16/EUintroducesareportingobligation for digital platforms whether located inside or outside the EU andanautomaticexchangeofinformationbetweenEUMember States’ tax administrations on revenues generated by sellers on theseplatforms. Luxembourg’s Tax administration steps into its next era