On 16 February 2021 the OECD issued the final batch of stage 1 peer review assessments in relation to BEPS Action 14 on making dispute resolution mechanisms more effective.

Countries that are members of the OECD’s Inclusive Framework on BEPS are committed to conforming to the minimum standard on Action 14 and are subject to peer reviews to review implementation of measures to achieve this.

The peer review reports cover Aruba, Bahrain, Barbados, Gibraltar, Greenland, Kazakhstan, Oman, Qatar, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, United Arab Emirates and Vietnam. The reports assess the progress made by each jurisdiction to implement the minimum standard on BEPS Action 14, aiming to improve the mechanisms for resolution of tax disputes between countries.

The peer review reports make around 340 recommendations for improvement of the systems of dispute resolution. Progress made by jurisdictions in implementing these recommendations will be assessed in stage 2 of the peer review process.

One aspect of the minimum standard is that jurisdictions are required to provide timely reporting of MAP statistics under the agreed template and reporting framework. The peer review reports incorporate the statistics on the mutual agreement procedure (MAP) collected in relation to the years from 2016 to 2019 that have been reported under the MAP Statistics Reporting Framework. .

The OECD has now published all the stage 1 peer review reports and has published the first three batches of stage 2 peer review reports. Many countries have already begun work to deal with the deficiencies identified in their peer review reports.

Further batches of stage 2 peer review reports on BEPS Action 14 will be published as the schedule of peer reviews is carried out. A fourth batch of stage 2 peer review reports is to be issued in a few months.