At a signing ceremony held in Seville in the side-lines of the 15^th Plenary Meeting of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes, 22 jurisdictions, including the UK, signed the multilateral competent authority agreement (MCAA) for the automatic exchange of information under the OECD Model Rules for Reporting by Digital Platforms. The OECD says that the agreement will allow jurisdictions to automatically exchange information collected by operators of digital platforms with respect to transactions and income realised by platform sellers in the sharing and gig economy and from the sale of goods through such platforms. The annual exchange of this information will assist tax administrations and taxpayers to ensure the correct and efficient taxation of such income.

In addition, 15 jurisdictions, including the UK, signed a separate MCAA supporting the Model Mandatory Disclosure Rules on Common Reporting Standard Avoidance Arrangements and Opaque Offshore Structures (CRS Mandatory Disclosure Rules). According to the OECD, this agreement will enable the annual automatic exchange of information collected from intermediaries that have identified arrangements to circumvent the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) and structures that disguise the beneficial owners of assets held offshore with the jurisdiction of tax residence of the concerned taxpayers. This will allow tax authorities to ensure compliance of both the taxpayers and the intermediaries involved in such arrangements and structures.

The CRS Mandatory Disclosure Rules are part of broader actions taken by the OECD to ensure the continued effectiveness of the international automatic exchange of tax information, including the recently published Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework and Amendments to the CRS, which were welcomed by G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors as integral additions to the global standard for the automatic exchange of information. To read the OECD’s press release in full and for links to the multilateral agreements and a list of signatories, click here.