Members:
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The Global Forum membership is open to OECD countries, G20 countries, other jurisdictions covered by the report “Tax Cooperation 2009: Towards a level playing field” (see list below), and other jurisdictions invited to join by the Global Forum. The Global Forum may invite other jurisdictions to participate in its work with the possibility to become members if they commit to implement the standards and accept to be reviewed. All members will participate on an equal footing.
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Albania
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Latvia
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Andorra
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Lesotho (Kingdom of)
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Anguilla (1)
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Liberia
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Antigua and Barbuda
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Liechtenstein
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Argentina
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Lithuania
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Aruba (2)
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Luxembourg
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Australia
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Macau China
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Austria
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Malaysia
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Azerbaijan
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Malta
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Bahamas
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Marshall Islands
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Bahrain
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Mauritania
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Barbados
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Mauritius
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Belgium
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Mexico
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Belize
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Monaco
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Bermuda (1)
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Montserrat (1)
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Botswana
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Morocco
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Brazil
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Nauru
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British Virgin Islands (1)
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Netherlands (2)
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Brunei Darussalam
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New Zealand
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Burkina Faso
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Nigeria
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Canada
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Niue
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Cameroon
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Norway
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Cayman Islands (1)
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Pakistan
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Chile
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Panama
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Colombia
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People’s Republic of China
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Cook Islands (3)
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Philippines
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Costa Rica
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Poland
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Croatia
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Portugal
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Curacao
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Qatar
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Cyprus (5)
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Romania
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Czech Republic
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Russian Federation
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Denmark
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Saint Kitts and Nevis
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Dominica
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Saint Lucia
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El Salvador
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Saint Maarten
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Estonia
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Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
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Finland
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Samoa
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The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
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San Marino
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France
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Saudi Arabia
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Gabon
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Senegal
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Georgia
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Seychelles
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Germany
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Singapore
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Ghana
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Sint Maarten (2)
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Gibraltar (1)
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Slovak Republic
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Greece
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Slovenia
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Grenada
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South Africa
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Guatemala
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Spain
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Guernsey (4)
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Sweden
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Hong Kong, China
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Switzerland
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Hungary
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Trinidad and Tobago
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Iceland
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Tunisia
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India
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Turcs & Caicos Islands (1)
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Indonesia
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Turkey
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Ireland
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Uganda
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Isle of Man (4)
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United Arab Emirates
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Israel
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United Kingdom
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Italy
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United States
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Jamaica
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Uruguay
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Japan
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Vanuatu
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Jersey (4)
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Virgin Islands (British) (1)
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Kazakhstan
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Kenya
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Korea
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1. Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom.
2. Aruba, Sint Maarten and the Netherlands are the three countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
3. Fully self-governing country in free association with New Zealand.
4. Dependency of the British Crown.
5. - Note by Turkey:
The information on this page with reference to « Cyprus » relates to the southern part of the Island. There is no single authority representing both Turkish and Greek Cypriot people on the Island. Turkey recognises the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). Until a lasting and equitable solution is found within the context of United Nations, Turkey shall preserve its position concerning the “Cyprus issue”.
- Note by all the European Union member states of the OECD and the European Union:
The Republic of Cyprus is recognised by all members of the United Nations with the exception of Turkey. The information on this page relates to the area under the effective control of the Government of the Republic of Cyprus.
Approved by: -The Council on 25 September 2009 C(2009)122/FINAL as a Part II Programme.
Mandate: - Draft resolution of the Council renewing and revising the Mandate of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes adopted by the Council at its 1268th session on 10 December 2015 [C(2012)148 and C/M(2012)15, Item 229]
Resolution of the Council [C(2012)148 and C/M(2012)15, Item 229]
DRAFT RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL RENEWING AND REVISING THE MANDATE OF
THE GLOBAL FORUM ON TRANSPARENCY AND EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION FOR
TAX PURPOSES
“The COUNCIL,
Having regard to the Convention on the Organisation for Economic and Cooperation Development of 14th December 1960 (hereinafter called “the Convention”);
Having regard to the Rules of Procedure of the Organisation;
Having regard to the Financial Regulations of the Organisation;
Having regard to the Recommendation of the Council on Counteracting Harmful Tax Competition adopted on 9 April 1998 [C(98)17];
Having regard to the OECD Model Agreement on Exchange of Information on Tax Matters and article 26 of the OECD and UN Model Tax Conventions;
Having regard to the Summaries of Outcomes of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes held in Mexico on 1-2 September 2009 and in Paris on 25-26 October 2011;
Having regard to the note by the Secretary-General concerning the establishment of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes (hereinafter “the Global Forum”) as a Part II program of the budget of the Organisation [C(2009)122];
Having regard to the proposed renewal and revision of the mandate of the Global Forum [C(2012)148] and to the results of the evaluation exercise conducted according to article 15 of its initial mandate [C(2009)122/FINAL];
DECIDES
The Global Forum is renewed with the following revised mandate:
Mission
1. The Global Forum shall ensure a rapid and effective global implementation of the standards of transparency and exchange of information for tax purposes[1] through in depth monitoring and peer review.
2. The whole monitoring and peer review process will be an ongoing exercise. Evaluation reports will be published after adoption by the Global Forum. Jurisdictions will be expected to act on any recommendations in the review and to report back to the Global Forum on actions taken.
Participation
3. The Global Forum membership is open to OECD countries,[2] G20 countries and other jurisdictions covered by the report “Tax Co-operation 2009: towards a level playing field”. All members will participate on an equal footing.
4. The Global Forum may invite other jurisdictions to participate in its work with the possibility to become members if they commit to implement the standards and accept to be reviewed.
5. The Global Forum may invite relevant international organisations as observers.
Governance
6. The Plenary of the Global Forum is the decision making body of the Global Forum. The Global Forum may adopt its rules of procedure.
7. The Plenary is assisted by:
- a Steering Group, which will prepare and guide the Global Forum’s future work;
- a Peer Review Group (PRG), which will develop the methodology and detailed terms of reference for a robust, transparent and accelerated peer review process. The PRG will also carry out such peer reviews;
- any other body it may deem appropriate to establish.
8. The Plenary shall appoint the Chair and Vice Chairs of the Global Forum, who are also Chair and Vice Chairs of the Steering Group, the Chair and Vice Chairs of the PRG, who are also members of the Steering Group, and the other members of the Steering Group and the Peer Review Group.
9. The Global Forum will operate by consensus. However, as far as peer reviews are concerned, no one jurisdiction can block the adoption or publication of a review. Nevertheless, every effort should be made to arrive at a consensus and the views of the reviewed jurisdiction will be fully noted.
10. The Global Forum will be served by a dedicated self standing secretariat based in the Organisation’s Centre for Tax Policy and Administration so as to benefit from the Organisation’s experience in this area. Notwithstanding the provisions of Staff regulation 7b) and the related instruction 107/1, the Secretary-General of the OECD shall be authorised to appoint, as OECD officials, nationals from any member of the Global Forum as long as they are located in the secretariat serving the Global Forum.
Budget
11. The expenditures of the program shall be charged against the appropriations authorised under a Part II chapter of the budget of the Organisation.
12. The budget of the Global Forum shall be financed by its members to the amount agreed between them.
13. The scale of contributions shall be the following:
- a yearly fee of 15,300 Euros for each member; such fee will be subject to an automatic annual increase equal to the annual increase in the Global Forum Budget, unless otherwise decided by the Global Forum;
- the remaining funding to be allocated in accordance with Annex II of document BC(2009)3.[3] In order not to overburden the smallest jurisdictions, only those with a GNP above 35 billion USD will contribute to this part of the budget.
14. A member would fall into arrears on 31 March of the year following the year of the call for payment of the annual contribution if the contribution remains unpaid at that date.
- In the first year of payment arrears, members in arrears, together with the amount outstanding for the year in question, will be identified in a table to be presented to the Global Forum at its next annual meeting.
- If, in the second year following the year of call for payment, a member's contribution remained unpaid by the member, the Global Forum would consider a proposal to suspend it from participation in the Global Forum, unless it paid the outstanding contribution. Settlement of the outstanding debt by the member in arrears will reverse the suspension.
- If, in the third year following the year of call for payment, a member’s contribution remained unpaid the Global Forum would consider a proposal to exclude it from membership in the Global Forum, unless it paid the outstanding contribution.
- The decision to exclude would then be notified to the member. Debt settlement and reversal of the exclusion decision would be subject to the agreement of the Global Forum.
15. In order to allow members to contribute stable amounts to the Global Forum over successive years, appropriations for which no commitment has been entered into before the end of the financial year for which they were appropriated and any remaining net amounts shall be automatically carried forward to the budget for the ensuing year by decision of the Secretary General, notwithstanding the provisions of the Financial Regulations of the Organisation.
Evaluation
16. An evaluation exercise of the Global Forum will be conducted prior to the end of the mandate period.
Duration
17. The mandate shall remain in force until 31 December 2015.”