Global Forum carries out training on exchange of information under the Punta del Este Declaration Initiative

 

22/11/2023 – Twenty-three tax officials, including auditors, from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Paraguay, Dominican Republic and Uruguay met in Montevideo, Uruguay, from 20 to 24 November 2023 for the “Workshop on Auditing Cross-Border Transactions – The Crucial Role of Exchange of Information”. The five-day seminar was organised by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation, the Institute of Fiscal Studies, the World Bank and the Secretariat of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes (Global Forum).

The training focused on how exchange of information (EOI) can support domestic tax investigations in the context of a cross-border transactions. Participants consolidated their knowledge on key concepts of transparency and EOI through several presentations, exercises and simulations. These practical capacity-building activities aim to enhance participants’ ability to make effective use of the EOI infrastructure to increase the number and quality of ongoing requests and replies to their treaty partners, as well as to improve the quality of their domestic tax audits to combat cross-border tax evasion. The training reinforced participants’ awareness that domestic revenue protection is closely linked to the effective use of EOI tools and networks.

The Punta del Este Declaration is focused on fully and effectively implementing the international standards of transparency and exchange of information across Latin America. It was launched in 2018 and aims to ensure that jurisdictions in the region can fully and swiftly benefit from transparency and EOI for tax purposes and translate it into effective domestic revenue mobilisation. The Punta del Este Declaration – Latin America Initiative is currently chaired by Paraguay and counts 15 members, which have endorsed the objectives set out in the Punta del Este Declaration.

The Global Forum is the leading multilateral body mandated to ensure that jurisdictions around the world adhere to and effectively implement both the exchange of information on request standard and the standard of automatic exchange of financial account information. These objectives are achieved through a robust monitoring and peer review process. The Global Forum also runs an extensive capacity-building programme to support its members in implementing the standards and help tax authorities make the best use of cross-border information sharing channels. The delivery of the Global Forum’s capacity-building programme, including this joint workshop, is only made possible thanks to the financial support and the trust of its generous donor partners.

The Global Forum capacity-building programme is supported by the following development partners:

For more information, please contact gftaxcooperation@oecd.org.