G20 pushes automatic tax information exchange
The G20 group of leaders offered their support to the OECD’s work on establishing a new single global standard for automatic exchange of information by February 2014 at their latest summit in St Petersburg on 5 and 6 September 2013. In parallel, the G20 also expect to begin to exchange information automatically on tax matters among G20 members by the end of 2015.
At the meeting the G20 also called on member countries to look at their domestic laws to help ensure that they assist in allowing multinational enterprises to reduce overall taxes paid by artificially shifting profits to low-tax jurisdictions. The G20 also voiced its strong support for the OECD action plan to tackle Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS). An action plan was agreed, the St Petersburg Action Plan, which sets out various strategies to achieve strong, sustainable and balanced growth.
The G20 brings together finance ministers and central bank governors from 19 countries: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States of America plus the European Union, which is represented by the President of the European Council and by Head of the European Central Bank. The G20 members represent almost 90% of global GDP and almost 80% of international global-trade.