Overview of Legislation Practices Regarding Exchange of Information Between National Tax Administrations in Tax Matters

Μελέτη 13-10-2015

This paper forms part of a series of analytical pieces on various key tax issues, prepared by Policy Department A at the request of the TAXE Special Committee of the European Parliament. It deals with the need for information exchange between sovereign states on tax-related issues, which is increasing rapidly. In this vein, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the EU have developed better instruments of information exchange. The OECD has enlarged the scope of Articles 26, 27 of the OECD Model Tax Convention (MTC) and has in parallel proposed a specific Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) Model. Both sources have been increasingly used in the bilateral treaty practice. In parallel, the EU has enacted two new directives: the Directive concerning Mutual Assistance for the Recovery of Claims and the Directive on Administrative Cooperation. This paper aims at providing a systematic overview of recent developments (including on the concept of 'automatic exchange') and explains the content and function of the legal sources delimiting each other. The paper also deals with the legal protection of taxpayers, especially with the protection of personal data and commercial, industrial, business and professional secrets. It emphasizes the necessity of an international tax secret as an EU minimum standard.