New weapon against tax fraud – Dagsavisen

 
 

From 2018 will further approximately 50 countries begin to supply the IRS with such information. This will make it harder to hide funds abroad.

 
 

Since last autumn, the IRS has received information about Norwegian citizens’ accounts in the US, from US tax authorities.

 
 

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– Continued challenges

 
 

Meanwhile international cooperation to ensure access to all relevant information about companies and individuals, so that tax fraud can be uncovered.

 
 

This week’s tax director Hans Christian Holte host a meeting in Oslo, which will bring this work forward. Through Friday shall Global Forum’s Peer Review Group to consider the national laws and rules for the exchange of tax information in 12 countries.

 
 

– We will have information we could only dream about ten years ago, but still remains a number of challenges, pointed Holte during his opening address to the 170 delegates from 57 countries.

 
 

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Lacking in many countries

 
 

What emerges from the much talked Panama papers, clearly shows that loopholes today still present abundantly for those who deliberately want to avoid paying taxes.

 
 

– What do you experience that the biggest obstacle for Tax Administration today?

 
 

– Complex networks in the global economy makes it difficult to get good insight so that we get the proper basis for setting the right tax. The economy has become much more interconnected, responding Holte.

 
 

This is attacked in several ways through the work of OECD-member Global Forum, an initiative by G20 countries in 2009, now has 135 member countries, including Norway. Global Forum has thus become the main agency for the implementation of international standards of transparency in the tax area, and will also ensure that these standards are followed up throughout the world.

 
 

An overview as of March this year, shows that there are still a number of countries that have a long way to go in terms of access to and exchange of tax information. Among the countries that have not passed all the checkpoints we find Switzerland, Panama, Poland, Romania, Liberia, Kazakhstan and a number of smaller island nations of southern latitudes.

 
 

For Norway, however everything on care.

 
 

Comment: Must step up the treasure hunt

 
 

Automatic exchange

 
 

The exchange of this information takes place today at the request of a country’s tax authority to another. The IRS must thus have a justified suspicion that something is wrong before they can request information. Access to information is an entirely different in and implementation of AEOI (Automatic Exchange of Information), from 2017.

 
 

It will during the next year and subsequent years imply that the Tax Administration will receive information on how much Norwegian citizens have the values ​​in banks and with financial institutions in over 100 countries. Similarly, the Norwegian tax authorities provide tax authorities of these countries with information about what the foreigners have of value in Norway.

 
 

Holte describes this as an important development in combating tax evasion.

 
 

As mentioned at the beginning of this case, has a similar agreement between the United States and Norway are already in force, starting with FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act). This legislation, which came into force in 2014, giving the United States greater opportunities to find and taxing US citizens and persons who are tax resident / domiciled in the United States.

 
 

– Supports fully

 
 

Also Finance Minister Siv Jensen (FRP) was present to welcome the Global Forum’s Peer Review Group to Oslo at the opening of the forum’s meeting yesterday.

 
 

Jensen pointed out the need for international cooperation in the fight against corruption, tax evasion and money laundering, and the crucial importance it has to put in place efficient systems in this context.

 
 

– Norway fully supports this effort, stressed the Minister of Finance.

 
 

After that we are talking about a working meeting of the Global Forum’s Peer Review Group, the meeting is closed to the press.

 
 

Dagsavisen will not know which 12 countries to be considered for exchange of tax information.

 
 

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