On 17 February the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes issued its capacity building report for 2021 entitled Developing Capacities in Times of COVID-19.

The report outlines the support activities engaged in by the Global Forum which continued its capacity-building programme in 2020 with greater support for a number of countries. Technical assistance was given to 70 jurisdictions and 26 training events were held for officials and international organisations. Three new toolkits were published and the e-learning courses included new modules on beneficial ownership and exchange of information on request.

Technical assistance and other forms of capacity building are increasingly being requested by jurisdictions intent on improving domestic revenue mobilisation as part of reviving their economies after the crisis.

The capacity-building programme which was launched in 2011 aims to support the effective implementation of the transparency and exchange of information standards. This allows the member countries to combat tax evasion and other illicit financial flows more efficiently and to improve domestic resource mobilisation.

Capacity-building activities relate to both the exchange of information on request and automatic exchange of financial account information standards. The Global Forum has set up an Action Plan to address the need for support of its members during the pandemic. The plan uses innovative methods to deliver support through new technologies and tools.

The three high-level objectives of the capacity-building programme are widespread engagement by its members, effective implementation and practical use of the standards. Through the programme more developing countries can benefit from transparency and exchange of information for tax purposes and this permits them to tackle offshore tax evasion. The most important objective of the Global Forum in its capacity building programmes is to improve the effectiveness of the support provided to members, taking into account their diversity and the specific needs of each jurisdiction, the resources available to them and the practical impact of the actions.

The Annex to the report lists the training events that have taken place since December 2019 and the evaluation of the sessions.