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Monaco Signs TIEA With The US

The US Department of the Treasury announced on September 8 the signing of a tax information exchange agreement with Monaco. The agreement was signed by US Deputy Treasury Secretary, Neal Wolin and Head of the Monaco Government's External Relations, Franck Biancheri in Washington.

"This Administration is wholeheartedly committed to combating offshore tax evasion," explained Wolin. "We are working with countries like Monaco to ensure that the IRS has access to the information that it needs to enforce US tax law. Today's agreement serves as an example for other financial centers around the world and reflects our continued efforts to end the use of offshore accounts as a tool for tax evasion."

From an US point of view, the Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) with Monaco will provide the United States with access to information needed to enforce US tax laws, including information related to bank accounts in Monaco.

The TIEA will permit the United States to seek information from Monaco, beginning in 2010, on all types of taxes in both civil and criminal matters regarding 2009 and later tax years.

Information exchanged pursuant to the TIEA may be used only for tax purposes, and the tax authorities must safeguard the confidentiality of information exchanged pursuant to the TIEA.

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Singapore And Australia Agree to Tax Information Exchange

Singapore and Australia have signed a protocol to their existing double taxation agreement, incorporating the internationally agreed Standard for the exchange of information upon request for tax purposes.

Singapore's High Commissioner to Australia, Albert Chua, and Australia's Assistant Treasurer, Nick Sherry, signed the protocol in Canberra. It is the sixth agreement Singapore has signed that incorporates the internationally-agreed OECD standard for the exchange of information upon request for tax purposes.

The protocol will give the tax authorities of both countries a greater ability to exchange taxpayer information and to exchange information on a wider range of taxes.

It also provides that neither tax authority can refuse to provide information solely because it does not require the information for its own domestic purposes, or because the information is held by a bank or similar institution.

"This is a significant step in enhancing Australia's efforts to combat tax avoidance and stamp out evasion," Nick Sherry observed, continuing:

"It will support global cooperation on tax matters and improve information exchange and transparency – important priorities for the G20."

"The Australian Government is determined to ensure all taxpayers meet their tax obligations and the signing of this protocol will help this aim," he added.

"It's also another signal to those jurisdictions operating as tax havens that countries such as Australia and now Singapore are determined to work together to end tax avoidance."

The protocol will enter into force after Singapore's legislative amendments to give effect to the OECD standard have been approved by parliament and gazetted into law, and 30 days after both countries advise completion of their ratification procedures.

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UK & Austria Sign Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA)

The United Kingdom and Austria have signed a protocol amending the double taxation agreement (DTA) they share to provide for the exchange of tax information between the two countries’ tax authorities in cases where there is perpetration of a tax crime and in civil tax matters.

The protocol amending the existing DTA, first signed on April 30, 1969, was signed in Vienna on September 11, 2009, by Simon Smith, the UK Ambassador to Austria, and Andreas Schieder, Austria’s State Secretary.

The Protocol updates the exchange of information article of the DTA to bring it into line with current OECD standards. The agreement will compel the competent authorities of the contracting states to exchange relevant information relating to the administration or enforcement of the domestic laws concerning taxes.

The text of the protocol will shortly be presented to UK Parliament for approval and will enter into force once both countries have completed their legislative procedures. The provisions of the protocol will then take effect from the next calendar year.

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Swiss & Finland agree to Tax information Exchange through DTA

The Swiss Federal Council has approved the revised double taxation agreements (DTAs) negotiated with the US and with Finland.

The revised agreements provide for administrative assistance in tax matters under Article 26 of the OECD Model Convention, and were negotiated in line with parameters laid out by the Federal Council.

The Federal Council has also authorized the Federal Department of Finance (FDF) and the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs to sign both of the DTAs, before they are submitted by the FDF to Parliament for ratification, and for the issue of an optional referendum to be considered.

Following the Federal Council decision on March 13, 2009, to extend administrative assistance in tax matters, Switzerland has negotiated and initialed DTAs containing an extended administrative assistance clause with 14 countries.

Switzerland has already signed DTAs containing the extended administrative assistance clause, in accordance with Article 26, with Denmark, Luxembourg, France, Norway, Austria, and the UK.

The Federal Council has also given the go-ahead for the revised DTA with Mexico to be signed.

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San Marino And Italy Prepare to sign TIEA

The San Marino government has recently had discussions with the Italian Ministry of the Economy, Giulio Tremonti, and the Italian Revenue Agency aimed at concluding an agreement incorporating the OECD standard for the exchange of tax information.

After the initial discussions, the San Marino government underlined its intention to proceed further with the negotiations in Italy, and to remove the remaining barriers to an agreement before further meetings, probably to be held in mid-September. It was reported that Giulio Tremonti expected an agreement to be signed by the end of September.

It was reported that the questions that still required clarification included the incidence in San Marino of nameplate companies, falsely-declared residences and tax evasion. The San Marino government has said that it is working to provide all the necessary information to establish the actual position with regard to those matters. In an interview with the magazine ‘Economy’, Gabriele Gatti, San Marino’s Finance Secretary, said that, aside from the above information, all of the technical terms of the agreement with Italy have been agreed.

Subsequently, on 9 September, a meeting was held between San Marino’s Finance Department and the Italian Revenue Agency. Following the meeting, it was stated that one of the questions addressed was that of those Italian citizens who had been placed on the official Italian list of non-residents, but who are now declared as residents of San Marino. As a result of the agreement reached in the meeting, information on those residents is expected to be exchanged.

Further to the forthcoming G20 meeting, during the interview, Gabriele Gatti said that San Marino has only two current agreements that include the OECD standard for the exchange of tax information – with Monaco and Belgium. However, in the interview, he confirmed that San Marino has already made contact with various countries and there were negotiations at an advanced stage with France, Germany, Japan, Norway, the Netherlands, Czech Republic, Spain, Sweden and Turkey.

With other countries, such as Austria, Croatia, Luxembourg, Malta, Rumania and Cyprus, he said that there are agreements already in place which do not conform to the OECD standard; while the first approaches have been made with others, such as Argentina, Australia, Ireland, UK, Switzerland and the USA.

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Austria signs 12 Tax Agreements with information sharing

Austria announced today it has approved 12 double tax agreements in accordance with the OECD Model Convention allowing the exchange of bank account ownership information on request. Austria can now be removed from the OECD’s "gray" list of uncooperative countries ahead of the forthcoming G20 meeting on September 24.

DTAs have already been signed with Bahrain, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. Each agreement provides for administrative assistance in tax matters under Article 26 of the Convention.

In addition to those already signed, eight further DTAs (with Belgium, the UK, Monaco, Denmark, San Marino, St Vincent, Singapore, and Norway) have been negotiated and approved by Austria’s Council of Ministers.

Once these DTAs have been signed, Austria will have fulfilled the OECD’s requirement to conclude 12 Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEAs), and will then be removed from the gray list.

It has also emerged that Austria is currently negotiating a further DTA with Gibraltar, and the agreement is due to be approved by the Council of Ministers shortly.

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St Kitts and Nevis Signs TIEA with the Antilles and Aruba

St Kitts and Nevis has improved its standing with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) after signing another two tax information exchange agreements (TIEAs), bringing its total to four.

The agreements were signed at The Hague on September 11, 2009, with the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba, adding to the two agreements signed with the Netherlands and Denmark on the sidelines of the OECD Global Forum on Taxation held in Mexico earlier this month.

St Kitts and Nevis High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, James Williams, signed the TIEAs on behalf of the Federation with representatives from the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba.

The government of St Kitts and Nevis says it has already negotiated the text for additional TIEAs, but is awaiting indication from the relevant countries with regards the actual signing of these agreements.

Prime Minister Denzil Douglas recently announced that the government expects to sign TIEAs with Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, New Zealand, Australia, and Canada, as the government seeks to gain a place on the OECD’s "white list" of territories that have substantially implemented the internationally-agreed standard on transparency and information exchange.

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Denmark & Austria Convention to include Tax Information Exchange

The Danish Tax Authority, the Skatteministeriet, has announced the signing of an agreement with Austria amending the existing double tax convention the two countries share to allow for the exchange of information in the case of tax crimes, and in civil tax matters.

The agreement will allow the exchange of information between the respective countries’ tax authorities beginning the year following the document’s ratification. The amendment has been made to add the extended administrative assistance clause in accordance with Article 26 of the OECD Model Convention.

“I am very pleased with this development,” commented Danish Treasurer, Kristian Jensen. “Within the space of a few months we have concluded agreements with all the major European countries that once operated ‘bank secrecy’ regimes – Luxembourg, Belgium, Switzerland and now Austria. Outside Europe, Singapore and a number of smaller overseas jurisdictions have also concluded agreements on information exchange.”

The aforementioned agreements will be tabled in parliament in October, the tax authority informed in a statement, noting that they must also be approved by the other parties before they can take effect.

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San Marino Signs TIEA With Malta

On September 10, Malta and San Marino signed a protocol amending the double tax convention they share dating back to May 2005.

The agreements, upon entry into force, will allow the respective countries’ tax authorities to gain access to information pertaining to tax matters, in certain circumstances, such as where there is evidence of the perpetration of a tax crime, and also in civil tax matters.

The document was signed by Maltese Ambassador to Italy and San Marino, Walter Balzan, and by Ambassador of San Marino in Italy, Barbara Para, at the Maltese Embassy in Rome.

In order to gain a place on the OECD’s white list of territories that have substantially implemented the internationally-agreed standard, San Marino must conclude at least 12 agreements that include Article 26 of the OECD model convention.

Following the signing of the agreement, San Marino has now concluded three agreements, having already concluded TIEAs with Monaco and the Faroe Islands. The jurisdiction has recently initialed an agreement with Liechtenstein, and announced that it is in discussions with Italy.

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UK And Malaysia Sign Double Tax Agreement with information sharing

A Protocol to the Double Taxation Agreement between the UK and Malaysia was signed in London on September 22, 2009 by Aziz Mohammed, High Commissioner of Malaysia, and Stephen Timms, Financial Secretary to the UK Treasury.

The Protocol updates the exchange of information article of the existing Agreement to bring it into line with current Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development standard and practice.

The text will shortly be laid as a Schedule to a draft Order in Council for consideration by the UK House of Commons.

The Protocol will enter into force once both countries have completed their legislative procedures. The provisions of the Protocol will then take effect from the next calendar year.