AS part of the OECD’s work to improve the timeliness of processing and completing mutual agreement procedure (MAP) cases under tax treaties and to enhance the transparency of the MAP process, the OECD has made available to the public annual statistics on the MAP caseloads of all its member countries and of Partner economies that agree to provide such statistics. MAP statistics have now been released for the 2015 reporting period.

The statistics for each reporting period (generally a calendar year) include - opening inventory of MAP cases on the first day of the reporting period; number of MAP cases initiated during the reporting period; number of MAP cases completed during the reporting period; ending inventory of MAP cases on the last day of the reporting period; cases closed or withdrawn with double taxation during the reporting period; and average cycle time for cases completed, closed or withdrawn during the reporting period.

The data for each reporting period are separated based on the year the relevant MAP cases were initiated. In addition, since 2008, the statistics have been divided into MAP cases with OECD member countries and cases with Partner economies for countries that have provided that information. More information on the MAP reporting framework, including the definitions of terms used in reporting, can be found in the 2007 Report “Improving the Resolution of Tax Treaty Disputes”.

2015 is the last reporting period for which statistics will be provided in this format. For 2016 and subsequent years, members of the Inclusive Framework on BEPS will use a substantially revised reporting framework which has been developed for use in monitoring the implementation of the BEPS Action 14 minimum standard.