EBF and its members do not support tax evasion. EBF concurs with the objective of combating tax fraud and agrees on the need for more transparency.
The EBF believes that a multilateral approach to the exchange of information for tax purposes is the right approach and is fully supportive of the global standards set by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in matters relating to administrative assistance in tax issues.
Over recent years, the EBF has been deeply involved in the work of the OECD on the exchange of information in tax matters and has constructively contributed to the OECD expert groups including on the challenges that FATCA poses to Europe’s banks. Within this framework, the EBF has been supportive of the development of a common model for reporting and transmission standards, while emphasising the need for consistency between the new standards and the existing ones.
The scope of automatic exchange of information should however be limited to cases where there is a high risk of tax evasion. Indeed, even if the method is functional, it is burdensome for both financial intermediaries and revenue authorities, which have to be able to handle the vast amounts of data that such exchanges generate.
More generally, Europe’s banks recall that it remains primarily the individual’s responsibility for his/her tax compliance. The legitimate practice of tax avoidance consists of using tax measures that governments themselves have put in place in their legislation to attract foreign direct investment in competition with other jurisdictions.
Press release
© EBF
Key
Hover over the blue highlighted
text to view the acronym meaning
Hover
over these icons for more information
Comments:
No Comments for this Article