AS per a report by the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes, significant progress has been made since the last G20 Summit in Cannes in November 2011. In particular, the Global Forum has now launched a number of reviews to assess whether cross-border exchange of information is being implemented effectively.

A supplementary report by the OECD shows growing adherence to automatic exchange of tax information. The OECD also announced a new initiative to tackle the misuse of corporate vehicles such as shell companies. The work will tackle the issue of tax base erosion and profit shifting by some multinational firms. A progress report on the initiative will be presented to the next G20 Summit.

The Global Forum reports that more than 800 cross-border exchange of information agreements have now been signed. And since the Cannes Summit, four more countries - Colombia, Costa Rica, Greece and India - have signed a multilateral Convention to counter tax evasion. The number of signatory countries now stands at 35.

The Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters offers a wide range of tools to facilitate cross-border tax cooperation. It includes automatic exchange of information, multilateral tax examinations and international assistance in the collection of tax due. At the same time, the Convention imposes safeguards to protect the confidentiality of the information exchanged.