Maldives Joins the World’s Widest Reaching Multilateral Treaty for International tax Co-operation and Exchange of Information
Maldives Inland Revenue Authority marks passing a significant milestone today, for the Maldivian tax system.
A ceremony held at the OECD Headquarters in Paris yesterday saw the joining of Maldives along with two other countries to the multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters. H.E. Mr. Hassan Sobir, Ambassador of the Republic of Maldives to the Kingdom of Belgium and the Ambassador of the Republic of Maldives to the European Union signed the treaty on behalf of Maldives.
Following this, Mr. Fathuhulla Jameel, Commissioner General of Taxation at MIRA signed, two Competent Authority Agreements specifying the modalities for exchanging information today. They are e the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information (CRS-MCAA) and Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on the exchange of Country-by-Country Reports (CbC-MCAA).
As party to the MAAC, MIRA also will be granted access to financial information of Maldivian tax residents that hold financial accounts in countries participating in this Convention. Maldives receives rights to international legal framework for exchanging information and cooperation in tax matters while respecting the fundamental rights of taxpayers. Combating non-compliance through tax evasion and avoidance is the aim of the convention. This will be achieved through various forms of administrative cooperation such as exchange of information on request, automatic exchange of financial information, spontaneous exchange of information, service of documents and assistance for conducting tax examinations among others.
Since February 2016, Maldives has been a member of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information on Tax Matters. As a result, MIRA has continuously been working on the implementation of the international tax standards with assistance from the Global Forum.