MSAR signs tax agreement with Ireland

The Special Administrative Region yesterday signed a Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) with Ireland, according to an announcement by the Financial Services Bureau.
The agreement was inked by the Secretary for Economy and Finance, Lionel Leong Vai Tac and Ireland’s Ambassador to China, Paul Kavanagh.
According to the Secretary, the TIEA will allow the two parties to combat cross-border tax evasion through information exchanges, and to establish a fair environment for international taxation. He added that the SAR government would implement the new standards for the automatic exchange of financial information by 2018-end, in addition to fully supporting work by international organisations against base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS), which refers to tax avoidance strategies that shift profits from jurisdictions with higher taxes to tax havens.
Currently, the SAR government has signed tax-related agreements with 21 jurisdictions, including 16 TIEAs and five agreements on the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income.