Vietnamese delegation meet with representatives from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). (Photo: VNA) Paris (VNA) – The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development(OECD) and Vietnam on March 22 signed the world’s most wide-reaching internationaltreaty for multilateral tax cooperation, the Multilateral Convention on MutualAdministrative Assistance in Tax Matters (MAAC), bringing the total number ofjurisdictions that participate in the convention to 147.
Withthe signing, Vietnam joins international efforts towards greater taxcooperation and exchange of information and further strengthens the reach ofthe convention in Asia. The signing will pave the way for Vietnam to engage inthe exchange of information with 146 other jurisdictions, including all majorfinancial centres. These exchange relationships will be added to over 8,000exchange relationships already in place under the convention.
Theconvention enables the jurisdictions to engage in a wide range of mutual assistancein tax matters: exchange of request information, spontaneous exchange,automatic exchange, tax examinations abroad, simultaneous tax examinations, andassistance in tax collection. It guarantees extensive safeguards for theprotection of taxpayers' rights.
The convention is the primary instrument for the swift implementation of the Standard for the Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information inTax Matters (CommonReporting Standard - CRS). The CRS – developed by the OECD and G20 countries –enables more than 110 jurisdictions to automatically exchange offshorefinancial account information.
Beyondthe exchange of information on request and the automatic exchange according tothe standard, the convention is also a powerful tool in the fight againstillicit financial flows and is a key instrument for the implementation of thetransparency standards within the work of the OECD/G20Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS).
OECDDeputy Secretary-General Yoshiki Takeuchi welcomed Vietnam’s participation in the MAAC, saying that this showed the country’s determination to prevent tax evasion abroad, movetowards tax transparency, and deal with illegal financial flows.
According toTakeuchi, Vietnam's move, following its decision to join the Global Forum onTransparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes in December 2019,demonstrated Vietnam's commitment to global tax transparency.
Deputy General Director of the General Department of Taxation Dang Ngoc Minh said that in thecoming time, Vietnam will step up the building of information infrastructure to exchangeand exploit information from other countries, especially information offoreigners and transnational corporations./.
