More countries agree to share information

Bahrain Lebanon Nauru Panama and Vanuatu have committed to share financial account information automatically with other countries. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes said as a result 101 jurisdictions were implementing information sharing in accordance with the Common Reporting Standard developed by the OECD and G20 countries.

Jason Collins partner and head of taxation at Pinsent Masons said: ‘Automatic exchange of information will help to stamp out tax evasion and corruption but the next step is to make sure it is implemented effectively. The participating countries need to commit resources to make sure that it is not easy to beat the system through deception.’

He said there was no financial benefit to the host country in collecting the data required to help other...