The Hong Kong government on April 24 announced a consultation on legislation to implement automatic exchange of financial account information (AEOI) in tax matters. The legislation is based on prevailing international standards but has some adaptations to account for the situation particular to Hong Kong, the government said.
Professor K C Chan, the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury said that the government has been engaging with the financial industry to learn their views on how AEOI should be implemented. He said that the government intends to introduce the bill into the Legislative Council in early 2016.
“Our plan is to conduct AEOI on a bilateral basis with jurisdictions with which Hong Kong has signed a comprehensive avoidance of double taxation agreement (CDTA) or a tax information exchange agreement (TIEA). In identifying AEOI partners from amongst our CDTA or TIEA partners, we will take into account their capability in meeting the OECD standard and in protecting data privacy and confidentiality of the information exchanged in their domestic law,” Chan said.
The consultation will run until June 30.
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