The heads of state and government of the G20 have approved the OECD criteria to identify non-cooperative jurisdictions in matters of tax transparency, at the summit held in China on Sunday 4 and Monday 5 September.
Between now and July 2017, the OECD has been tasked with preparing a list of jurisdictions which have not made sufficient progress towards a "satisfactory implementation level of the recognised international standards on tax transparency", the final statement of the G20 reads.
The major powers have pledged that defensive measures against the listed jurisdictions will be "considered".
"This very strong message sent out by the G20 means that non-cooperative countries have until July 2017 to comply with the OECD criteria", said Pascal Saint-Amans of the OECD, quoted by French news agency AFP. "Being on the blacklist will have a devastating effect on the economies of the listed countries. The penalties are extremely heavy. There will be a major and immediate downward impact on the financial flows on these countries", he added.
According to the OECD, the jurisdictions should be assessed in line with three criteria: the implementation of the exchange of information on request, that of the automatic exchange of information, and participation in the multilateral convention concerning mutual administrative assistance in taxation matters.
The heads of state and government of the G20 countries also call on all countries that have not yet done so to sign up to the BEPS package of the OECD to tackle base erosion and profit-shifting. They also call on the countries to undertake to apply the automatic exchange of information standards by 2018 at the latest. (Original version in French by Élodie Lamer)