Singapore And Qatar Add Information Exchange Protocol

by Mary Swire, Tax-News.com, Hong Kong

23 September 2009

Singapore and Qatar have signed a protocol to incorporate the internationally agreed OECD standard for the exchange of information upon request for tax purposes into their existing agreement for the avoidance of double taxation.

The signing took place in Singapore between Eng-Tay Geok Lee, Deputy Commissioner (Business) of the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore, and Moftah Jassim, Director of Public Revenue and Taxes at Qatar's Ministry of Economy and Finance. The existing double taxation agreement had been signed on November 28, 2006.

The protocol will give the tax authorities of both countries a greater ability to exchange taxpayer information and to exchange information on a wider range of taxes. It also provides that neither tax authority can refuse to provide information solely because it does not require the information for its own domestic purposes, or because the information is held by a bank or similar institution.

The protocol will enter into force after Singapore's legislative amendments to give effect to the internationally agreed standard have been approved by Parliament and gazetted into law, and 30 days after notification that ratification procedures have been completed by both countries.

A comprehensive report in our Intelligence Report series, examining in depth the situation of offshore transparency and secrecy in a number of the most prominent jurisdictions, is available in the Lowtax Library at http://www.lowtaxlibrary.com/asp/subs_reports.asp and a description of the report can be seen at http://www.lowtaxlibrary.com/asp/description_report2.asp