Mauritius confirms commitment to implement the Common Reporting Standard for Automatic Exchange of Tax Information

Mauritius, has confirmed on September 18, its commitment to implement the Common Reporting Standard for automatic exchange of tax information and the country is already taking the required steps to implement the new global standard for automatic exchange of tax information.

This measure is in line with the proposed new global Common Reporting Standard for automatic exchange of tax information in a multilateral context, recently proposed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

This standard, which has been endorsed by the G20 Finance Ministers, largely builds on the US Foreign Accounts Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). The Government of the Republic of Mauritius and the Government of the United States of America (US) signed on 27 December 2013 a Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) and an Inter-governmental Agreement (IGA), for the implementation of the FATCA between the two countries.

It will be recalled that Mauritius is the first African country to have signed an Intergovernmental Agreement with the USA to implement the FATCA.

The objective of the FATCA, enacted in March 2010 by the US authorities, is to identify US persons behind foreign financial holdings and communicate their corresponding investment information, namely their names, addresses, account numbers, account balances and incomes derived from such investments to the US Inland Revenue Service (IRS).