Hong Kong Consults On Tax Info Exchange
Hong Kong’s Government has launched a consultation on proposals to apply, with certain adaptations, new international standards on the automatic exchange of account information (AEOI) in tax matters.
The Government’s AEOI proposals would alter the definition of financial institutions (FIs), the information FIs would be required to secure from account holders, the due diligence and reporting requirements FIs would have to follow, the powers of the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) to collect relevant information from FIs and forward such information to bilateral AEOI partner jurisdictions, and confidentiality provisions.
In September 2014, Hong Kong told the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, which developed the Common Reporting Standard (CRS), that it supports its new standard on AEOI and will commence the first information exchanges by the end of 2018.
K C Chan, the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, recently said: “Our current target is to introduce an amendment bill into the Legislative Council in early 2016 so we are working under an extremely tight timetable.”
“Our plan is to conduct AEOI on a bilateral basis with jurisdictions with which Hong Kong has signed a comprehensive avoidance of double taxation agreement (CDTA) or a tax information exchange agreement (TIEA),” he continued. “In identifying AEOI partners from amongst our CDTA or TIEA partners, we will take into account their capability in meeting the OECD standard and in protecting data privacy and confidentiality of the information exchanged in their domestic law.”
