The Revenue Chiefs of 35 tax administrations issued a joint statement concerning mutual cooperation and other initiatives at an OECD sponsored meeting in Seoul, South Korea in September.

The lengthy statement covers information exchanges, coordinated approaches to cross border transactions and the like. The press release issued with the statement carries a summary text which reads:

“Participants in the Seoul meeting shared the view that international non-compliance is a significant and growing problem and agreed to improve practical co-operation between revenue bodies and other law enforcement agencies of governments to counter non-compliance. Their discussions also revealed continued concerns about corporate governance and the role of tax advisors and financial and other institutions in relation to noncompliance and the promotion of unacceptable tax minimization arrangements. They also noted the increased flows of capital into private equity funds and the potential issues this may raise for revenue bodies.

Participants in the meeting identified four areas in which they planned to intensify existing work or initiate new work under the auspices of the OECD:

1. Further developing a directory of aggressive tax planning schemes so as to identify trends and measures to counter such schemes.
2. Examining the role of tax intermediaries (e.g., law and accounting firms, other tax advisors and financial institutions) in relation to non-compliance and the promotion of unacceptable tax minimization arrangements with a view to completing a study by the end of 2007.
3. Expanding the OECD 2004 Corporate Governance Guidelines to give greater attention to the linkage between tax and good governance.
4. Improving the training of tax officials on international tax issues, including the secondment of officials from one administration to another.”