OECD Home › Centre for Tax Policy and Administration › Exchange of information › Tool Kit on Automatic Exchange of Information
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Automatic exchange of information (also called routine exchange by some countries) involves the systematic and periodic transmission of “bulk” taxpayer information by the source country to the residence country concerning various categories of income (e.g. dividends, interest, royalties, salaries, pensions, etc). [See OECD Manual on the Implementation of Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes - Module on Automatic (or Routine) Exchange of Information].
Automatic exchange of information requires the standardisation of formats so that information can be captured, exchanged and processed efficiently in an automated matching system.
The standard formats, designed by the OECD, presently used by countries are:
• the 1997 Standard Magnetic Format (SMF) which was recommended by the OECD Council C(97)30/FINAL) and
• the Standard Transmission Format (STF 2.1 ) recommended for use as of 1 January 2012 and based on XML
User Guides assist in the implementation of those standards. As the SMF continues to be used bridging programs between the two standards are also available and regularly updated. They are designed to enable countries able to work only with SMF to transform information they receive in STF into SMF files and vice versa .
Therefore, as of 1 January 2012, countries should not use the previous versions of the STF and bridging programmes for new exchanges. The previous versions provided below are for use for exchanges before 1 January 2012.
For further information and an explanation of the work of the OECD in this area, please see the following report: Automatic Exchange of Information: What It Is, How It Works, Benefits, What Remains To Be Done
Any questions on the standard formats should be sent to: CTP.AEOI@oecd.org
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