Portugal Ratifies BEPS Multilateral Instrument

by Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels

17 March 2020

On February 28, 2020, Portugal ratified the BEPS multilateral instrument, committing to introduce changes to counter tax base erosion and profit shifting by amending its network of double tax treaties.

The MLI will enter into force for Portuguese tax treaties covered by the MLI from June 1, 2020, where the other signatory country has already ratified the BEPS MLI and it has entered into force for that country.

The MLI was developed through negotiations involving more than 100 countries and jurisdictions. The MLI will allow the territories to modify their existing tax treaties to include measures developed under the OECD/G20 BEPS project without having to individually renegotiate these treaties.

The OECD has now published a list of Reservations and Notifications as to which optional provisions Portugal has decided to adopt from the MLI for its double tax agreements.

Jurisdictions that sign the MLI must identify which of their treaties they wish the MLI to apply to and modify. These are called covered agreements. According to its list of Reservations and Notifications, Portugal has included 79 agreements as covered agreements.

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