Singapore and Australia sign pact to curb tax evasion

The agreement will take effect in September 2018.

The governments of Singapore and Australia forged an agreement on the automatic exchange of financial account information (AEOI) in pursuit of tax evaders.

According to a joint release by the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) and the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), the two states will commence AEOI based on the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) by September 2018.

“Under the agreement, IRAS will automatically exchange with the ATO, financial account information of accounts in Singapore held by Australian tax residents while the ATO will automatically exchange with IRAS, financial account information of accounts in Australia held by Singapore tax residents.”

Both nations are satisfied with the confidentiality rules and data safeguards in place in the other jurisdiction to ensure the confidentiality of information exchanged and prevent its unauthorised use, the statement said.