On 26 July 2012, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued a press release welcoming a new model international tax agreement designed to improve cross-border tax compliance and boost transparency.

Developed by the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom, the model allows the implementation of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) through automatic exchange between governments, reduces compliance costs for financial institutions and provides for reciprocity.

The model agreement calls on the OECD to work with interested countries on adapting the terms of the agreement to create a common model for automatic exchange of information, including the development of reporting and due diligence standards for financial institutions.

OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría said: “I warmly welcome the cooperative and multilateral approach on which the model agreement is based. We at the OECD have always stressed the need to combat offshore tax evasion while keeping compliance costs as low as possible.

A proliferation of different systems is in nobody’s interest. We are happy to redouble our efforts in this area, working closely with interested countries and stakeholders to design global solutions to global problems to the benefit of governments and business around the world.”

As a next step, the OECD will organize, in cooperation with the Business and Industry Advisory Committee (BIAC) to the OECD, a briefing session on the “Model Intergovernmental Agreement on Improving Tax Compliance and Implementing FATCA” at OECD headquarters in Paris in September 2012.

The organization will then quickly advance to design common systems to reduce costs and increase benefits for governments and businesses alike.

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