Directive (EU) 2021/514 — commonly referred to as DAC7 — came into force across EU member states on 1 January 2023. It requires "platform operators" to collect, verify, and automatically report income earned by "sellers" who use their platform. The first reporting cycle covered 2023 revenues, with declarations due by 31 January 2024.
For SaaS publishers running an affiliate programme, a legitimate question arises: does DAC7 apply? The answer depends on the structure of the programme, and it is not straightforward. This article explains the regulatory framework, the qualification criteria, and the practical obligations for operators within scope.
What is DAC7?
DAC7 is the seventh amendment to the EU Directive on Administrative Cooperation (DAC) in tax matters. Its purpose is to close the tax gap created by the digital platform economy: online sales, peer-to-peer rentals, freelance services, and more broadly any commercial activity facilitated by a digital interface.
The core mechanism is automatic exchange of information: platforms collect income data about their "sellers", report it to their national tax authority, and that data is automatically exchanged between the tax administrations of all EU member states. A seller established in Poland earning income through a platform based in the Netherlands: both tax administrations receive the information.
The primary legal text is Council Directive (EU) 2021/514 of 22 March 2021, available on EUR-Lex. Each member state has transposed it into national law with some implementation variations — check your national tax authority's guidance for the specifics that apply to you.
Who qualifies as a "platform operator" under DAC7?
The directive defines a platform operator as any entity — company, organisation, or individual — that concludes contracts with sellers to make all or part of a platform available to them.
A platform is defined as any software, website, or application that enables sellers to be connected with other users for the purpose of carrying out a reportable activity. The concept of "reportable activity" is central: DAC7 targets specific categories of activity.
Reportable activities under DAC7
Directive (EU) 2021/514 covers four categories of reportable activities:
- Rental of immovable property (residential or commercial).
- Personal services (services performed by a natural person, time- or task-based, carried out at the request of a user through the platform).
- Sale of goods.
- Rental of any mode of transport.
Affiliate commissions as such do not appear in the DAC7 list of reportable activities. An affiliate who generates leads or clicks for a SaaS publisher is not a "seller" in the literal sense of the directive. However, if your affiliate platform enables affiliates to resell services or act as structured intermediaries for third-party sales, the classification should be reviewed with legal counsel. The definition of "personal services" can be broad in some national transpositions.
Internal affiliate programme vs multilateral platform
The most important distinction for SaaS publishers is between two models.
The internal (bilateral) affiliate programme
A SaaS publisher running its own affiliate programme — where affiliates exclusively promote the publisher's own products — operates a bilateral arrangement. There is no facilitation of transactions between third-party sellers and third-party buyers: the publisher is the sole merchant, and affiliates are its referral partners.
In this model, the publisher is generally not a platform operator within the meaning of DAC7, because it is not facilitating reportable activities between independent parties. It pays affiliates for a lead-generation or referral service, which is an ordinary commercial relationship.
The multilateral affiliate platform
Conversely, an affiliate network or platform that connects multiple merchants (sellers) with multiple affiliates may qualify as a platform operator if the activities it facilitates fall within the scope of reportable activities. Affiliate networks enabling the sale of physical goods, booking of services, or rental of property are more likely to be within scope.
The boundary between these two models is not always clear-cut. An affiliate network that lists offers from multiple merchants in categories such as e-commerce (sale of goods) or personal services could find itself within the DAC7 perimeter. The classification must be assessed case by case, taking into account the activities actually facilitated by the platform and how the relevant national transposition defines "personal services". Obtain specific legal advice rather than relying solely on general guidance.
Obligations for in-scope platform operators
If your structure falls within the DAC7 perimeter, the following obligations apply.
1. Collect data about "sellers"
The platform operator must collect a defined set of information on each active seller:
For natural persons (individuals):
- First and last name
- Primary address
- Tax identification number (TIN) in each relevant member state
- Date of birth
- Financial account identifier (e.g. IBAN) where available
- Total remuneration paid per quarter
For entities (companies):
- Legal name and registered address
- Tax identification number
- Legal registration number
- Any permanent establishment in the EU
2. Due diligence and verification procedures
The directive requires due diligence procedures on the information collected. Operators cannot simply accept sellers' self-declarations without verification. The detailed verification rules — including checks against official databases — are set out in Annex V of Directive (EU) 2021/514.
3. Annual reporting to tax authorities
The operator must file an annual report with its national tax authority covering sellers who exceeded either of the following thresholds during the year:
- More than €2,000 in total remuneration received via the platform, or
- More than 30 transactions completed on the platform.
Below these thresholds, the seller is not included in the report, although data must still be collected and retained.
The reporting deadline under the directive is 31 January of the year following the reporting period (i.e. 31 January 2025 for 2024 revenues). Verify the exact deadline applicable in your member state, as national transpositions may vary slightly.
4. Communication to sellers
The operator must also provide each reportable seller with the information that has been reported to the tax authority. This communication must be made by 31 January of the year following the reporting period, or earlier if specified by national law.
Automatic exchange between member states
Once reported in one member state, the information is automatically exchanged with all other member states where sellers are tax resident. The exchange takes place within one month of the reporting deadline — typically by the end of February each year.
This automatic exchange is the cornerstone of DAC7: it closes the gap that previously allowed income earned on foreign digital platforms to remain invisible to the seller's national tax authority.
What DAC7 means for affiliates
From the perspective of affiliates, DAC7 increases the traceability of platform income. If a platform they work with is within DAC7's scope, their national tax administration will automatically receive information about their earnings from that platform.
This does not create a new direct declaration obligation for affiliates — they have no specific DAC7 filing of their own to complete. But it reinforces the importance of correctly declaring all income, including affiliate commissions, in their standard tax returns. Income visibility to tax authorities has increased structurally.
For an overview of the tax and legal obligations applicable to affiliates, our page on affiliate legal status in the EU covers the main business structures and their tax implications. If you work with sole trader affiliates, our guide on paying sole trader affiliates in the EU addresses the practical edge cases specific to that category.
Penalties for non-compliance
Directive (EU) 2021/514 leaves it to member states to define applicable penalties for non-compliance. In most EU member states, failure to file or filing inaccurate reports can result in administrative fines. Consult your national tax authority's guidance for the amounts applicable in your jurisdiction.
Compliance timeline
| Milestone | Reference date |
|---|---|
| Directive enters into force | 1 January 2023 (most member states) |
| First declarations (2023 revenues) | By 31 January 2024 |
| Annual reporting deadline | 31 January of the following year |
| Communication to sellers | By 31 January of the following year |
| Automatic exchange between member states | By end of February of the following year |
These dates reflect the directive as drafted. Verify the exact transposition calendar with your national tax authority.
A decision framework for SaaS affiliate programme operators
If you run a SaaS affiliate programme and are assessing your DAC7 exposure, ask your legal counsel or tax adviser the following:
- Does my programme facilitate any of the four reportable activities (property rental, personal services, goods sales, transport rental)?
- Am I facilitating transactions between independent sellers and independent buyers, or am I the sole merchant and my affiliates are my referral partners?
- Do I handle payment flows between third-party merchants and third-party buyers, or do I only pay referral commissions for my own products?
Most internal B2B SaaS affiliate programmes — where a single publisher pays affiliates to refer customers to its own product — fall outside the DAC7 perimeter based on these criteria. Verification remains necessary, particularly for structures that have evolved or that facilitate services for third parties through their platform.
For a broader view of affiliate programme compliance obligations, see our article on affiliate programme compliance: FTC and GDPR. For the practical mechanics of cross-border affiliate payments, our guide on how to pay affiliates in SaaS covers payment flows and documentation requirements.
On the VAT side, cross-border affiliate commission payments raise separate obligations — our page on VAT on affiliate commissions in the EU covers the reverse charge mechanism in detail.
How RefCampaign is structured
RefCampaign is a Stripe-native affiliate platform hosted in Europe, designed for internal B2B SaaS affiliate programmes. In this bilateral model — one merchant, its own affiliates — the DAC7 classification as a multilateral platform operator does not apply to the base use case. RefCampaign collects affiliates' tax data at onboarding (tax identification number, country of residence, IBAN), which is sound practice regardless of DAC7 scope, and integrates this structured data into SEPA payment flows via Stripe. The platform provides the organised documentation trail that makes compliance verification straightforward when your finance team or tax authority needs it.