SEOUL: Switzerland and South Korea have signed a joint declaration on the automatic exchange of tax information (AEOI) from 2018. The declaration is based on the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on the Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information (MCAA). Switzerland and South Korea will begin collecting data in 2017, with a view to the first exchanges taking place in 2018.
Switzerland has signed AEOI declarations with Australia, Jersey, Guernsey, the Isle of Man, Iceland, Norway, Japan, and Canada. The Swiss Federal Council said that these countries fit the profile of the type of jurisdiction with which it wants to engage in the AEOI.
It added that the introduction of AEOI with South Korea will strengthen Switzerland’s position internationally and enable it to increase its tax cooperation with a key member of the G20. The Federal Council has authorized the Federal Department of Finance to initiate a consultation on the declaration, after which a federal decree will be submitted to Parliament for approval.