Kuwait Signs OECD’s Multilateral Tax Pact

Kuwait became the 110th jurisdiction to sign the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters on May 5, 2017.

The OECD describes the Convention as the most powerful instrument for international tax cooperation. It provides for all forms of administrative assistance in tax matters: exchange of information on request, spontaneous exchange, automatic exchange, tax examinations abroad, simultaneous tax examinations, and assistance in tax collection. It guarantees extensive safeguards for the protection of taxpayers’ rights.

In signing the treaty, Kuwait is preparing to begin exchanging financial account information for tax purposes with other jurisdictions by 2018. The Convention can also be used to swiftly implement the transparency measures of the OECD/G20 Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Project, such as the automatic exchange of Country-by-Country reports under Action 13, as well as the sharing of advance tax rulings under Action 5 of the BEPS Project.

Also, Turkey has recently signed the CRS Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (the CRS MCAA), re-confirming its commitment to implementing the automatic exchange of financial account information pursuant to the OECD/G20 Common Reporting Standard (CRS) in time to commence exchanges in 2018. Turkey became the 88th jurisdiction to sign the CRS MCAA.