OECD Wants Broker, Insurer Data Included in Tax Evasion Crackdown

February 14, 2014 by Mark Deen

Accounts at brokers and insurers need to be included along with banks in a plan designed to share data among governments to crack down on tax evasion, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said.

The 42 countries committed to a fast track for automatic information exchange on residents who have financial accounts abroad also need to insure common reporting standards for different types of investment income and capital, the OECD said today in a report.

The Paris-based organization is presenting the proposals ahead of a meeting of Group of 20 finance ministers in Sydney next week. Eyeing what the European Union estimates is 1 trillion euros ($1.36 trillion) of lost tax revenue, governments are trying to develop a system whereby financial details of their residents are automatically exchanged by tax authorities.

The report sets out common standards that countries participating should follow. The OECD intends to set out proposals on how to technically implement such measures by mid year.

–Editors: Zoe Schneeweiss, Emma Charlton