The Isle of Man government is moving forward in its commitment to join the multilateral convention on mutual administrative assistance in tax matters, according to chief minister, Allan Bell.

The convention, jointly developed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the Council of Europe, offers an accessible route to increase the number of jurisdictions, including developing countries, taking part in tax information exchange networks. The Isle of Man has been interested in joining the convention for some time, and gave its commitment to do so prior to the G8 Summit in June this year, it said in a statement.

The island’s progress in respect of the convention has been reported in a letter sent this week by treasury minister Eddie Teare to the secretary general of the OECD, Angel Gurria.

The Manx government will be asking the UK government to extend the application of the convention to the Isle of Man. Subject to Tynwald approving enabling legislation in October, the convention should be applied in the island from the beginning of next year.

“The Isle of Man has led the way in building an extensive network of bilateral tax information exchange agreements around the world, so joining the multilateral convention is a logical step for us. The convention makes it easier for developing countries to benefit from tax information exchange, and as a responsible international business centre it is important that we support this significant global instrument,” said Bell.