The Austrian Presidency of the Council of the European Union is reportedly planning to put forward three options on the implementation of the digital services tax (DST) directive in the EU as part of a potential compromise proposal in relation to waiting for international consensus on tax rules to address the digitalization of the economy. These include:

• Giving the European Commission six months to present a proposed directive for the implementation of an international solution to address the digitalization of the economy if such a solution is agreed to at the OECD level by summer 2020; otherwise, EU Member States would be required to implement the DST from January 2021, with the tax to expire when an implementing directive for an agreed to international solution enters into force;
• Requiring EU Member States to implement the DST from January 2021, with the tax to expire when an implementing directive for an agreed to international solution enters into force; or
• Requiring EU Member States to implement the DST from January 2021, with the European Commission to present a progress report in 2020 on the development of an international solution, along with a proposal to delay or repeal the DST directive as appropriate.

A final Council decision on the DST issue is to be made during a meeting in December 2018, although it is uncertain whether this can be achieved.