The OECD secretary-general’s report to the meeting of G20 leaders held in Hamburg in July 2017 took the form of an update on the latest developments in the international tax agenda, and a progress report on transparency and exchange of information for tax purposes.
The international tax agenda report is divided into four themes: tax transparency; inclusive framework on BEPS; tax policy; and tax development. The main points are summarised below.
On tax transparency:
the global forum now includes 142 members;
automatic exchange of financial account information has led to more than 500,000 taxpayers disclosing offshore assets over the past eight years, with close to €85bn in additional tax revenue being identified;
101 jurisdictions have committed to start exchanging common reporting standard (CRS) information by 2018 at the latest;
111 jurisdictions have now signed the multilateral convention on mutual administrative assistance in tax matters, with a further 14 having applied to sign;
only one jurisdiction (Trinidad and Tobago) is still considered ‘non-compliant’ with the agreed tax transparency standards; and
work on beneficial ownership is set to continue into the second half of 2017, involving analysis of potential costs and benefits of designing a common format for electronically searchable data sets of ownership information, with a view to reporting back with first conclusions by early 2018.
On the inclusive framework on BEPS:
the inclusive Framework on BEPS now has 100 member countries and jurisdictions;
more than 6,000 tax rulings that could give rise to BEPS concerns have been exchanged between tax administrations;
64 jurisdictions have signed the multilateral competent authority agreement for country-by-country reporting (CbCR); and
CbCR requirements already cover 95% of relevant multinationals, with more than 120 preferential tax regimes under review.
On tax policy:
the focus is on tax certainty and taxation of the digital economy;
a report on tax certainty was published in March 2017; and
an interim report on taxation of the digital economy is to be delivered in early 2018, followed by a final report in 2020.
On tax and development:
29 countries have been provided with assistance through the OECD bilateral capacity building programme;
21 programmes are running in the ‘tax inspectors without borders’ initiative;
a new ‘Africa academy for tax and financial crime investigation’ was launched in June 2017; and
the ‘platform for collaboration on tax’ has issued toolkits on transfer pricing and a draft on taxing offshore indirect transfers of assets.
Over 60 jurisdictions will have activated nearly 2,000 bilateral relationships for the automatic exchange of CRS information by July 2017, including all 50 jurisdictions committed to undertaking first exchanges in 2017, and a further 51 will exchange information in 2018.
The OECD secretary-general’s report to the meeting of G20 leaders held in Hamburg in July 2017 took the form of an update on the latest developments in the international tax agenda, and a progress report on transparency and exchange of information for tax purposes.
The international tax agenda report is divided into four themes: tax transparency; inclusive framework on BEPS; tax policy; and tax development. The main points are summarised below.
On tax transparency:
the global forum now includes 142 members;
automatic exchange of financial account information has led to more than 500,000 taxpayers disclosing offshore assets over the past eight years, with close to €85bn in additional tax revenue being identified;
101 jurisdictions have committed to start exchanging common reporting standard (CRS) information by 2018 at the latest;
111 jurisdictions have now signed the multilateral convention on mutual administrative assistance in tax matters, with a further 14 having applied to sign;
only one jurisdiction (Trinidad and Tobago) is still considered ‘non-compliant’ with the agreed tax transparency standards; and
work on beneficial ownership is set to continue into the second half of 2017, involving analysis of potential costs and benefits of designing a common format for electronically searchable data sets of ownership information, with a view to reporting back with first conclusions by early 2018.
On the inclusive framework on BEPS:
the inclusive Framework on BEPS now has 100 member countries and jurisdictions;
more than 6,000 tax rulings that could give rise to BEPS concerns have been exchanged between tax administrations;
64 jurisdictions have signed the multilateral competent authority agreement for country-by-country reporting (CbCR); and
CbCR requirements already cover 95% of relevant multinationals, with more than 120 preferential tax regimes under review.
On tax policy:
the focus is on tax certainty and taxation of the digital economy;
a report on tax certainty was published in March 2017; and
an interim report on taxation of the digital economy is to be delivered in early 2018, followed by a final report in 2020.
On tax and development:
29 countries have been provided with assistance through the OECD bilateral capacity building programme;
21 programmes are running in the ‘tax inspectors without borders’ initiative;
a new ‘Africa academy for tax and financial crime investigation’ was launched in June 2017; and
the ‘platform for collaboration on tax’ has issued toolkits on transfer pricing and a draft on taxing offshore indirect transfers of assets.
Over 60 jurisdictions will have activated nearly 2,000 bilateral relationships for the automatic exchange of CRS information by July 2017, including all 50 jurisdictions committed to undertaking first exchanges in 2017, and a further 51 will exchange information in 2018.
