United States Signs Protocol to Multilateral Treaty on Mutua

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United States Signs Protocol to Multilateral Treaty on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced today that Deputy Secretary of State Jacob J. Lew signed, on behalf of the United States, a Protocol to the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance on Tax Matters, as it was jointly opened for signature by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the Council of Europe.
In a ceremony held today at 6:30 p.m. local time at the OECD in Paris, France, officials from seventeen countries signed the Protocol in order to bring the existing Convention into conformity with current international standards for the exchange of information for tax purposes between national revenue authorities. For example, the Protocol provides for the full exchange of information on request in tax matters without regard to a domestic tax interest requirement or bank secrecy laws. The proposed Protocol also provides updated rules regarding the confidentiality and permitted uses of exchanged information as well as the level of detail that countries must provide when making a request for information. The Protocol also permits countries which are not members of the OECD or of the Council of Europe to become parties to the Convention, subject to unanimous consent by the existing parties.

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