The secretariat of the OECD’s tax transparency body will soon release updated exchange of information guidance to support tax administrations — particularly those in developing countries — as part of its COVID-19 capacity-building action plan.
In its latest report, published February 17, the secretariat of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes highlighted the success of its technical assistance activities in 2020 despite the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic.
In particular, the report focuses on the secretariat’s COVID-19 action plan, created after demand from global forum member countries increased for assistance with their own support and recovery response plans. Because of pandemic restrictions, many member jurisdictions ran into difficulties when implementing exchange of information standards, such as legislative delays and tax administration disruptions, the report says.
As a result, the secretariat reinvented its capacity-building strategy and started offering remote technical assistance tailored to jurisdictions’ individual needs and virtual training seminars on tax transparency and exchange of information, according to the report. The secretariat also quickly developed new e-learning courses, toolkits, and other tools to help global forum members.
In total, 70 global forum members received technical assistance in 2020, and 4,200 officials from 155 jurisdictions and nine international organizations received training during 26 events, the majority of which were virtual, according to the report.
Although virtual training sessions have their limitations, global forum members responded positively to them, the report says, adding that the secretariat will continue to offer similar training sessions as part of its capacity-building efforts.
Nearly 3,400 officials also took e-learning courses on topics such as beneficial ownership and exchange of information on request. The secretariat will offer more e-learning courses on related topics, including automatic exchange of information, in 2021, the report says.
The secretariat also developed three new toolkits in 2020, following up on the publication of a toolkit on beneficial ownership in March 2019.
The new toolkits were aimed at global forum members interested in creating their own exchange of information units, committing to adopting the automatic exchange of information standard, or both.
Specifically, the secretariat released in July 2020 a toolkit setting out the process for countries to join the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters (2010 protocol). Two toolkits on confidentiality and information security and establishing and running an effective exchange of information unit were published in December 2020. The latter was produced in partnership with the African Tax Administration Forum.
Building on the momentum, the secretariat plans to overhaul the exchange of information working manual, according to the report.
Hakim Hamadi, head of the global forum's technical assistance and outreach unit, told Tax Notes that the secretariat plans to make the manual more user-friendly and more targeted to developing countries’ needs. The manual will also be more comprehensive and will include additional guidance for countries to ensure that group requests meet the standard of foreseeable relevance, he added.
More tools for developing countries and tax auditor guidance will be added as well, according to Hamadi. The toolkit, which will complement the one on establishing and running an effective exchange of information function, should be ready for publication between March and June, he said.
The global forum expanded in 2020, with Mali, Palau, and Vietnam increasing membership to 161, the report says. More jurisdictions are promising to implement the automatic exchange of information standard as well, including Morocco and Kenya by 2022 and Georgia in 2023, the report adds.
Publication of the global forum’s report coincided with Uganda’s February 17 announcement that it has committed to implementing the automatic exchange of information standard by 2023, bringing the total number of committed jurisdictions to 116.
Maria José Garde, chair of the global forum, welcomed the announcement. “The global forum secretariat will assist Uganda in implementing the standard and in addressing any challenges that may arise,” she said.