Macau, Nordic Countries Sign TIEA

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

05 May 2011

Macau, which is, along with Hong Kong, one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China, and the Nordic countries of Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, and the autonomous territories the Faroe Islands and Greenland, have signed a tax information exchange agreement (TIEA).

The TIEA, which incorporates the international standards on tax co-operation and transparency set by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, was signed on April 29 at a ceremony in the Danish Embassy in Paris. The agreement will therefore give the tax authorities of signatory countries a greater ability to exchange taxpayer information on a wider range of taxes.

As the 31st such agreement signed with other jurisdictions since 2007, it should provide the Nordic tax authorities with access to information about the capital assets and incomes of citizens, and, therefore, could reveal undeclared assets and earnings.

The TIEAs will be bilateral between Macau and each Nordic country. Each contracting party will notify the other in writing of the completion of the procedures required by its law for the entry into force of each agreement.

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

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