NEW DELHI, MAY 28, 2010: ACCORDING to an OECD press
release, in order to combat international tax evasion and better enforcement of
national tax laws, the OECD and the Council of Europe have amended the
Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters. So far, the
convention was open for signature to the 54 countries that are either members of
the Council of Europe or OECD or both.
The
amendments to the Convention provide that bank secrecy and a domestic tax
interest requirement should not prevent a country from exchanging information
for tax purposes. Also, restrictions on the use of information exchanged under
the Convention are lifted by the amendments to the Protocol.
The
changes also enable non-OECD and non-Council of Europe member states, including
developing countries, to accede to the Convention. This would transform the
Convention, first drafted in 1988, into a powerful instrument in the fight
against offshore tax evasion.
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