Building on the 2024 Samoa regional workshop, which emphasised strengthening TP compliance and leveraging EOI to resolve cases, this clinic-style session responded to participants’ call for additional practical, hands-on training.
The workshop provided participants with a solid foundation in the arm’s length principle, TP concepts and audit procedures, and risk assessment techniques. It also explored the critical role of EOI in accessing information relevant to TP audits and the importance of establishing the right legal frameworks, for example by joining the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters.
Through expert presentations, interactive exercises, real-world case studies and peer-learning sessions, participants built practical capacity to:
- identify and mitigate TP risks, particularly in high-risk industries
- conduct TP audits and apply the arm’s length principle to cross-border related-party transactions
- formulate high-quality EOI requests to support TP investigations.
This immersive, learning-by-doing workshop marked another step in supporting Pacific jurisdictions to enhance their TP compliance frameworks and strengthen their use of EOI for tax purposes.
The Pacific Initiative was launched in October 2020, based on a phased approach for the gradual implementation of the international standards, to advance tax transparency and strengthen domestic resource mobilisation in the region. Development partners, including the ADB, the OECD, the Global Forum, the World Bank, PITAA, the Australian Taxation Office and the New Zealand Inland Revenue, agreed to organise a series of capacity-building activities for the benefit of 16 Pacific jurisdictions, half of which are Global Forum members. Along with tailored country assistance, these regional workshops support a gradual and consistent implementation of the international tax standards in the Pacific.
The Global Forum is the leading multilateral body mandated to ensure that jurisdictions around the world adhere to and effectively implement both the exchange of information on request standard and the standard for automatic exchange of information. These objectives are achieved through a robust monitoring and peer review process. The Global Forum also runs an extensive capacity-building programme to support its members in implementing the standards and help tax authorities make the best use of cross-border information sharing channels.
The Global Forum’s worldwide capacity-building programme is supported by the following development partners:
