Singapore signed the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters (“the Convention”) on 29 May 2013. The Convention was signed in Paris by Mr Tan York Chor, Singapore’s Ambassador to France. The Convention will expand Singapore’s network of EOI partners by 13 jurisdictions^[1], including Brazil and the United States.

Signing the Convention is one of the four changes recently announced by Singapore to strengthen its international tax cooperation. These changes are part of an ongoing strategic shift of Singapore's exchange of information (EOI) system that goes as far back as 2009 when Singapore adopted the international EOI Standard. The other three changes are the extension of the international EOI Standard to all Singapore’s tax agreement partners; simplifying the process for our tax authority to obtain bank information; and concluding a Model 1 Agreement with the US for the Foreign Accounts Tax Compliance Act.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam said: “Signing the Convention reflects Singapore’s commitment to tax cooperation based on international standards, but the standards can only work if all financial centres come onboard. Singapore will work with our international partners to achieve that, so that Switzerland, Luxembourg, Singapore, Hong Kong and offshore jurisdictions like the British Overseas Territories move together.”

The Convention was first developed as an OECD-Council of Europe agreement in 1988. It was opened to non-members in 2010. The Convention has recently been gaining acceptance as an international agreement for bilateral tax cooperation among its signatories. Please click here for the OECD press release on the signing of the Convention.

Ministry of Finance