Governments around the world are getting desperate for revenue in the current economic climate and are starting to turn to each other for help.
Reuters reports today that the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is cracking down on international taxA tax is a mandatory payment or charge collected by local, state, and national governments from individuals or businesses to cover the costs of general government services, goods, and activities.
evasion by “blacklisting” governments that have notoriously lax standards:
The OECD said it was moving Uruguay, Costa Rica, Malaysia and the Philippines to a grey list of offenders who say they will put things right, a long list that includes major finance centres such as Switzerland.
The OECD published three lists last Thursday in response to a request from world leaders looking for ways to tighten up on financial regulation at a G20 summit in London the same day.
These were the only four counties placed on the recently released black list, and all have responded with commitments to abide by international standards of information sharing. Apparently the pressure is paying off, as Ireland reports recently collecting $1 billion in taxes due, for which the OECD claims credit.
We recently reported on the IRS’s plans to implement a tax amnesty in order to bring in revenue from income being sheltered in overseas accounts.
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