Brussels, 25/11/2013 (Agence Europe) - The world forum on transparency and the exchange of information for tax purposes, set up at the OECD to establish global tax transparency and exchange of information standards, published a report on 22 November on compliance in 50 countries and jurisdictions, examining the upon request tax information system.
The forum comprises 121 countries and made peer reviews of a number of criteria (availability of information, access to information and exchange of information) and sub-criteria to see whether its members have introduced a suitable regulatory and legal system for the exchange of tax information (Phase 1). In Phase 2, they assess whether the system is properly applies. To date, 124 assessments have been carried out, 50 of them in Phase 2.
The league table reveals that 18 jurisdictions (including Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Finland France, Ireland, Norway and Sweden) comply with the rules, while 26 (including Germany, the United States, Greece, Guernsey, Italy, Jersey, Macao, Malta, Monaco, the Netherlands, San Marino and the United Kingdom “broadly comply”, two countries (Austria and Turkey) “partially conform” and 4 (Cyprus, the British Virgin Islands, Luxembourg and the Seychelles) 'do not comply”. Some 14 other jurisdictions (including Switzerland) have not been ranked, while awaiting changes to their legal systems and rules on the exchange of information.
The one EU member state found not to comply, Luxembourg, fails when it comes to the availability of information on the holders of bank accounts, ease of access to information, information exchange systems, rights and guarantees. Austria, which partially complies, is singled out for unwillingness to provide certain categories of information and fails to provide information about the ownership of bank accounts and “partially” complies on access to information about account ownership and information exchange systems. Switzerland, which is often cited by Luxembourg and Austria to justify their reluctance to join the automatic exchange of information system for savings tax, is singled out for the non-compliance of its legal system when it comes to the ownership of bank accounts and exchange of information systems. The full country-by-country table can be found at: http://www.oecd.org/tax/transparency/global_forum_ratings.pdf . (FG/transl.fl)