The move follows the announcement in April that the G5 group of countries (UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain) were planning a multilateral automatic exchange of information.
Since then, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has been developing a Common Reporting Standard (CRS).
At the sixth Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes held in Jakarta on 21 November, a group of jurisdictions including the UK, its Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories, as well as countries including Luxemburg, Liechtenstein, South Africa and Ireland – all committed to the early adoption of the CRS.
In a joint statement the signatories said: “We have committed ourselves to early adoption of the Common Reporting Standard being developed in the OECD, and have joined the initiative first launched by France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK in April.
“In doing so we have recognised that only those financial centres which embrace the new tax transparency and work in close cooperation to tackle cross border tax evasion will prosper in the future.
We call on other countries and jurisdictions to commit to join this initiative at the earliest opportunity with the aim of rapidly creating a truly global system of automatic information exchange and leaving no hiding places for tax evasion.”
The statement also acknowledged that it was important to ensure confidentiality and ‘proper use of the information exchanged’. It also called for more help and assistance to be given to developing countries to help them benefit from the new standard.
At the same event it was confirmed that the Isle of Man was among 18 countries deemed “complaint” with OECD’s principles of tax transparency.
Meanwhile, Guernsey was singled out for praise by the OECD recently after the jurisdiction signed its 50th Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA).
Fiona Le Poidevin, chief executive of Guernsey Finance said that Guernsey’s commitment to an early adoption of the CRS was yet further evidence that the Island was leading the global fight against tax evasion.
She added: “Now we want to see more jurisdictions joining us so that there is a level playing field for all and to ensure that tax evasion is tackled robustly across the globe.”
Territories yet to sign include leading IFC’s such as Switzerland and Singapore.
