Malta has joined 50 states and jurisdictions in signing the Multilateral Agreement on The Automatic Exchange of Tax Information in Berlin, under the aegis of the OECD.
Finance Minister Edward Scicluna said this was an important step in the fight against tax evasion as the agreement gives revenue authorities better tools with which to uncover undeclared assets.
“This sends a clear signal to all persons who have undeclared assets abroad that the time has come for them to disclose these assets in a voluntary manner, such as with the use of the ongoing Investment Registration Scheme, which is open until the end of November. In this way, they can regularise their tax position voluntarily,” Prof. Scicluna said.
The signatory states have committed to sharing information about the financial accounts of taxpayers who are resident for tax purposes in a different country.
This agreement follows other similar agreements such as the EU Savings Directive, Malta’s FATCA with US, and other Tax Information Exchange Agreements with offshore centres.
Financial institutions must now take stock of their existing accounts as of December 31, 2015 and determine new customers’ residence for tax purposes starting on January 1, 2016. The first automatic exchanges of information will take place in September 2017.