THE world’s
leading forum on tax transparency published 10 new peer review reports yesterday,
pointing to ever-increasing compliance with the internationally-recognised
standards to curb tax evasion through the exchange of information.
The new reporting from the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information
for Tax Purposes demonstrates growing worldwide compliance with the international
standard for exchange of information on request and deep engagement to push
forward transparency objectives of the group, which brings together 132 countries
and jurisdictions on an equal footing to tackle offshore tax evasion.
The Global Forum published Phase 1 reports on Croatia and Tunisia, which assessed
their legal and regulatory frameworks for transparency and exchange of information
on request. These countries were assessed to have legal frameworks in place
to enable them to move to Phase 2 of the review process, which will assess
exchange of information practices.
Eight new Phase 2 reviews of exchange of information practices - for Botswana,
El Salvador, Georgia, Kenya, Mauritania, Nigeria, Niue and Saudi Arabia - were
also published by the Global Forum. It allocated ratings for compliance with
the individual elements of the international standard, as well as an overall
rating for each jurisdiction which is “Largely Compliant.”
The Global Forum has now completed 225 peer reviews and assigned compliance
ratings to 94 jurisdictions that have undergone Phase 2 reviews. The first
round of reviews for all member jurisdictions will be completed by the end
of 2016, as required under a 2009 mandate that governs the peer review process.
In a demonstration of the increasing relevance of its work and its reach,
three new members joined the Global Forum in 2016 - Guyana, Chad and Maldives.
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