Privilege and tax advice: impact of recent ECJ decisions

We were recently involved in advising a Luxembourg law firm in relation to an order to disclose information and documents based on an information request issued by another EU Member State, and whether providing such information would be a breach of the rules on privilege. The matter went all the way to the CJEU, with the CJEU finding that (i) the order was an interference with the right to respect communications between a lawyer and their client, which are protected under the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights and (ii) the current Luxembourg rules which exclude tax advice from the scope of legal privilege constitute an unjustified interference with such rights.