Panama agreed to sign on Multilateral convention on mutual Administrative Assistance in tax matters
Panama has agreed to sign a multilateral tax treaty, which the
Indian agencies believe will help them expedite investigations into the “Panama
papers” recently made public by the International Consortium of Investigative
Journalists.
Implications:
Signing and ratifying the Convention will be a very significant
step forward in implementing its commitment to tax transparency and effective
exchange of information.
About the convention:
Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax
Matters was developed jointly by the Organisation foe Economic Cooperation and Development(OECD) and the Council of Europe in 1988.- It was amended in 2010, in response to the call by the G20 to align it to the international standard on exchange of information and to open it to all countries, “thus ensuring that developing countries could benefit from the new transparent environment.”
- The Convention represents a wide range of countries, including all G20, BRICS and OECD countries, financial centres and several developing countries.
- India is among the 98 countries and jurisdictions that have already joined the Convention.
- Though Panama has decided to sign on convention following an analysis of international expectations and consultations with the private sector, its commitment for automatic exchange of information would be only towards those countries with which it signs bilateral agreements.
