Kazakhstan, Peru, and the UAE today signed the BEPS multilateral tax instrument (MLI), bringing the total number of signatories to the treaty to 79 and the number of covered jurisdictions to 81, the OECD has announced.
Also, Estonia has expressed its intent to sign the MLI on June 29, the OECD said.
The MLI, formally called the Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting, is designed to help countries counter tax avoidance and speed cross-border tax dispute resolution.
The multilateral treaty was developed by over 100 countries in an OECD-led effort. It is designed to allow countries to swiftly add to their existing bilateral tax treaties provisions agreed to by countries in 2015 as a result of the base erosion profit shifting (BEPS) plan.
So far, seven jurisdictions have ratified the MLI.
The MLI will enter into force on July 1 for Austria, the Isle of Man, Jersey, Poland, and Slovenia. It will enter into force on October 1 for Serbia, Sweden, and New Zealand.
“The new signatures and the imminent entry into force of this landmark agreement underlines governments’ commitment to update the international tax rules and ensure they are fit for purpose in the 21st Century,” said Pascal Saint-Amans, Director of the OECD Centre for Tax Policy and Administration.
Today also marked the first day of a two meeting of the Inclusive Framework on BEPS, being held in Lima. This is the fifth pleneiary meeting of the Inclusive Dramework, which is an OECD-led coalition of over 100 countries that are committed to implementing BEPS plan output.
