Malta signs international tax information exchange agreement

Malta has joined 50 states and jurisdictions in signing a Multilateral Agreement on The Automatic Exchange of Tax Information in Berlin, under the aegis of the OECD.

Finance minister Edward Scicluna welcomed the signing, underlining that it represents an important step in the fight against tax evasion as it equips revenue authorities with greater tools with which to uncover instances of undeclared assets.

"This signing ceremony sends a clear signal to all persons who have undeclared assets abroad that the time has come for them to disclose these assets in a voluntary manner, such as with the use of the ongoing Investment Registration Scheme, which is open until the end of November. In this way, they can regularise their tax position voluntarily," Scicluna said.

The signatory states have committed to sharing information about the financial accounts of taxpayers who are resident for tax purposes in a different country. This high tax standard was developed in cooperation with the OECD.

This agreement joins other similar agreements such as the EU Savings Directive, Malta's FATCA with US, and other Tax Information Exchange Agreements with offshore centres. Thanks to these agreements, the Maltese authorities have greater powers and tools to obtain information on undeclared assets abroad. The Government is determined to make full use of these tools to address tax evasion.

In a joint Berlin Declaration, Malta, alongside the other early adopters who signed the agreement, encouraged other countries to do likewise:

"The Early Adopters Group [...], recognising that tax evasion can only be tackled effectively at the global level, have committed ourselves to early adoption of the new single global standard for automatic exchange of taxpayer information [...].

As a group we are committed to remaining at the forefront of this global agenda, to supporting the monitoring of the implementation of the new global standard within the Global Forum and to ensuring that all countries can realise the benefits. In doing so we have recognised that only those financial centres which adopt the highest standards of transparency and work in close cooperation with each other will be those that prosper in the future."

Financial institutions must now take stock of their existing accounts as of 31 December 2015 and determine new customers' residence for tax purposes starting on 1 January 2016. The first automatic exchanges of information will take place in September 2017. The process of automatic information exchange is now supported by more than 100 states and jurisdictions.

The global implementation of this OECD standard represents a further step in the fight against tax evasion. Tax administrations across the world, including Maltese revenue authorities, will receive the information they need to ensure proper taxation of all taxpayers.