Noose tightens around global tax evasion as OECD countries sign new agreement

The first signatories to the dull-sounding "multilateral competent authority agreement" – which include the UK and Ireland – will launch their information exchanges by September 2017. Others will follow in 2018. 

 

The exchanges will hold “all financial information” updated automatically on an annual basis, and will be implemented on a reciprocal basis “with all interested jurisdictions”. 

 

Governments have also committed to raising the bar on the standard of information made available on request by including a requirement that beneficial ownership of all legal entities be available to tax authorities and exchanged with treaty partners.

 

OECD secretary general Angel Gurria said: “We are making concrete progress toward the G20 objective of winning the fight against tax evasion. 

 

"The fact that so many jurisdictions have agreed today to automatically exchange financial account information shows the significant change that can occur when the international community works together in a focused and ambitious manner.”

 

Developing countries have been invited to join the move towards an automatic exchange through a series of pilots designed to help out on the technical side. A new “African Initiative” has been launched to increase awareness of the merits of transparency within the continent. 

 

Gurria added: “The world is quickly becoming a smaller place for tax cheats, and we are determined to ensure that developing countries also reap the benefits of greater financial sector transparency.” 

 

The agreement was signed during the annual Global Forum, in which 123 countries and jurisdictions gather “on an equal footing”. This year Croatia and Peru joined the forum. 

 

Here's the full list of the territories that have signed the agreement, and the date they will start sharing information: