Compliance
Singapore, UK Sign Pact To Exchange Data In Fight Against Tax Evaders
The UK and Singapore, both major wealth management centres, have signed an agreement to automatically exchange data.
Singapore's tax authority has signed an agreement with the UK to
combat tax evasion, the latest in a series of moves by the Asian
city-state to clamp down on illicit money.
The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore and its UK counterpart,
HM Revenue and Customs, have agreed to share financial
account information, with the arrangement taking full force by
September 2018.
The pact is based on the common reporting standard (CRS), which
has been endorsed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation
and Development and Global Forum for Transparency and
Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes, IRAS said in a
statement last Friday.
IRAS will automatically share with HMRC financial account
information of accounts in Singapore held by UK tax residents,
while HMRC will do the same with IRAS for the financial account
information of accounts in the UK held by Singapore tax
residents, it said.
Singapore and the UK will commence automatic exchange of
information under the CRS by September 2018, IRAS said.
Singapore recently signed a similar agreement with Australia.
The CRS is a global framework under which scores of jurisdictions
will begin to automatically exchange data from 2017 and 2018. The
CRS framework is part of government efforts in many
countries to combat tax evasion and stem outflows of
revenues, a process that accelerated in the aftermath of the 2008
financial crisis.
