Brussels, 10/07/2009 (Agence Europe) - Luxembourg and Norway have officially modified their bilateral convention on double taxation in order to integrate OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) standards on the exchange of tax information. For the Grand Duchy, this is the twelfth bilateral agreement amendment, a minimum threshold for being recognised by the OECD as a jurisdiction that significantly implements international norms and standards in this field. The organisation has announced that it was taking the Grand Duchy off its “grey” list of countries that have undertaken to respect OECD norms on the exchange of tax information but has not yet applied these norms (see EUROPE 9876).
The bilateral fiscal agreements that Luxemburg has signed with twelve countries (Armenia, Austria, Bahrain, Denmark, United States, Finland, France, India, Norway, Netherlands, Qatar, UK) correspond to the OECD convention model. Only six member states are therefore concerned at this stage but agreements will be signed with Germany and Belgium by the end of 2009. In a press release, Luxembourg Treasury and Budget Minister Luc Frieden states that the signing of agreements with Qatar, Bahrain and India reflect the wish of the Luxembourg government to support geographical diversification of the Luxembourg financial centre. Also, “all agreements allow political and economic relations to be intensified with signatory countries”. The agreements provide for exchange of information on request and in individual cases between the tax administrations of the two countries. They do not aim to exchange banking information automatically or to authorise general requests (“fishing expeditions”). Austria (two agreements signed in line with the OECD standards on exchange of tax information), Belgium (5 agreements), Liechtenstein and Monaco (each one agreement) as well as Andorra, San Marino and Switzerland (no agreement) are still on the revised OECD list. (M.B./transl.jl)