All G20 governments agreed to a Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters to tackle tax evasion at the recent Cannes Summit. Until now, 21 countries including Ireland had signed up to the convention. The full support of the G20 adds substantial support to the agreement which provides for mutual administrative assistance in tax matters, including automatic exchange of information on request, multilateral simultaneous tax audits, and international help in the collection of tax.

The Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters offers a wide range of tools for cross-border tax co-operation including automatic exchange of information, multilateral simultaneous tax examinations and international assistance in the collection of tax due. The Convention also imposes safeguards to protect the confidentiality of the information exchanged according to the OECD.

The new convention is designed to reinforce international cooperation to target tax evasion by both individuals and corporations. According to the OECD, it will complement other initiatives such as that of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes which already includes 105 countries in an extensive peer review process.