Expat tax affairs will be opened to greater scrutiny when 93 governments begin exchanging information about bank accounts.
New regulations mean that within two years, tax authorities will automatically exchange information on everyone irrespective of whether tax has been paid or not.
The information to be shared includes account balances, interest, dividends and sales proceeds from financial assets. The collection of this information will start from next year with the first exchange of information in 2017. Exchanges are expected annually.
Until now, tax authorities suspicious of tax evasion would have to request information in writing from overseas banks and institutions.
Now the new rules bring a fundamental change in information sharing between tax authorities.
At first, 58 jurisdictions will be involved including the expat offshore centres of the Channel Islands and Isle of Man as well as EU countries. Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Liechtenstein, Argentina and South Africa will also take part.
By 2018, a further 35 countries will have joined including Australia, Canada, China, Singapore, Qatar, Monaco and Switzerland.
According to Jason Porter, director at Blevins Franks, the automatic exchange of information should hold no fear for fully transparent taxpayers.
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Comments
Totally irrlevant in EU countries like Greece and Portugal where super wealthy VIP's have only declared their earnings to be what they were paying their driver, houseleeper or gardener. And only declaring the latter so that the state would pay for them in their retirement. Not falling on the VIP or his heirs.
Note that Ze Socrates now is known to have a property portfolio including Venezuela ! But Portugal's investigators still powerless - due to intentionally inadequate laws - to make the link between the two countries.
Weber, the german philosopher predicted this future for us all, "the iron cage theory"
Dont use banks, they are part of the slavery system, and they responsible for lot of evils in world.