Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters

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Last updated - January 2012

G20 countries commit to Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters President Nicolas Sarkozy and the Secretary General of the OECD Angel Gurria at the G20 summit in Cannes 3-4 November 2011.
 

This Convention was developed jointly by the Council of Europe and the OECD and opened for signature by the member states of both organisations on 25 January 1988.

In April 2009, the G20 called for action “to make it easier for developing countries to secure the benefits of the new cooperative tax environment, including a multilateral approach for the exchange of information.” In response the OECD and the Council of Europe developed a Protocol amending the multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters to bring it in line with the international standard on exchange of information for tax purposes and to open it up to all countries.  Previously, it was only open to members of the OECD and of the Council of Europe.  At the G20 Summit in Cannes, France in November 2011, all G20 countries participated in a ceremony to mark the signing of the Convention.  Before the signing ceremony the amended Convention had already been signed by 21 countries: Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Georgia, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Korea, Mexico, Moldova, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The Convention facilitates international co-operation for a better operation of national tax laws, while respecting the fundamental rights of taxpayers. The Convention provides for all possible forms of administrative co-operation between states in the assessment and collection of taxes, in particular with a view to combating tax avoidance and evasion. This co-operation ranges from exchange of information, including automatic exchanges, to the recovery of foreign tax claims.

For more information on the amended Convention see the flyer (also available in Spanish) which provides a brief overview on the Convention.  For answers to frequently asked questions regarding the amended Convention please view the Questions & Answers.

Press Releases

• India signs international tax agreement, 26 January 2012
• G20 countries strengthen international tax co-operation, 3 November 2011
  
  
  
• Ireland signs Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters, 4 July 2011 
• Updated multilateral tax convention now open to all countries, 1 June 2011 
• Belgium signs updated Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters, 4 April 2011  
• Spain signs updated Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters, 11 March 2011 
• A boost to multilateral tax cooperation: 15 countries sign updated Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters, 27 May 2010 
• Tax: Revised OECD Council of Europe treaty will boost multilateral co-operation, 6 April 2010 
• The Council of Europe and OECD are strengthening their joint Convention to combat tax evasion, 25 September 2009