Progress in Tax Transparency – Mexico More Compliant Than Austria

By on 18/08/2014 | Updated on 24/09/2020
Photo: iStock

More countries than ever are making progress in exchanging information on tax matters for increased transparency. However, the programme to push this forward is resulting in some unexpected outcomes.

The Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes has established a framework where countries go through from Phase 1 to Phase 2 if they meet suitable criteria. In reports just published, Colombia, Latvia and Saudi Arabia qualify to go through to Phase 2 while the Federated States of Micronesia do not yet qualify.

Of the four countries just reviewed for Phase 2, only Slovenia was rated Compliant, while the Slovak Republic and Malaysia were rated Largely Compliant and Barbados was rated Partially Compliant. So far 54 countries have undergone Phase 2 reviews and the results can be viewed here.

The Phase 2 reviews, as part of the programme run under the auspices of the OECD, show where countries currently stand in terms of having best practice tax standards in place.

The rating system used is: Non-Compliant; Partially Compliant; Largely Compliant; and Compliant.

Most of the states that are Non-Compliant are islands such as The Seychelles, British Virgin Islands and Cyprus, but Luxembourg is among them.

Many more have achieved full compliance, everyone from Australia to Sweden. Yet there is still work to be done when China is Compliant yet Austria is only Partially Compliant, and where Mexico is compliant yet Jersey is Largely Compliant.

Additional peer reviews will be completed by the next plenary meeting of the Global Forum, in Berlin, Germany, 28-29 October 2014.

About Graham Scott

Graham is an experienced editor and publisher and an award-winning writer. He has travelled extensively and is interested in world cultures.

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