Macau | Deal inked between Portugal and Macau to amend double taxation law

Macau and Portugal have signed a deal allowing the Secretary for Economy and Finance to alter a double taxation law between the two jurisdictions

Macau (MNA) – A deal has been signed between the Secretary for Economy and Finance, Lionel Leong Vai Tac, and the Portuguese Government giving Macau the power to amend the ‘Agreement on the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion,’ according to a dispatch in Wednesday’s Official Gazette.

The signing of the agreement would allow Macau to amend Law 2/2003, giving the Secretary the authority to adopt necessary measures for respective tax regularisation and to conclude regional or international agreements aimed at avoiding double taxation.

Double taxation is the practice of levying a tax from two jurisdictions on the same source of income, asset or transaction.

However, no announcement has been made on a delayed tax deal known as the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information (MCAA), which is meant to revise current protocols on assets and financial information exchange in order to adhere to the Common Reporting Standard set out by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which was originally meant to be signed in 2017.

According to previous comments from António Mendonça Mendes, the current Portuguese Secretary of State for Tax Affairs, who was speaking on the sidelines of Portugal Day celebrations on June 10, the delayed agreement will be signed “later this year.”

Mendes has been contacted by Macau News Agency (MNA) for comment on the delayed deal but had yet to respond at the time of writing.