The report highlights efforts to implement global tax transparency standards across Asia, combat illicit financial flows, and boost domestic resource mobilisation through the Asia Initiative.

The OECD’s Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes (Global Forum) has published its report titled “Tax Transparency in Asia 2025” during the 8th Meeting of the Asia Initiative on 26 May 2025.

Tax Transparency in Asia 2025 is the third edition of one of the key outputs of the Asia Initiative, a regional programme launched in 2021 and focused on developing tailored solutions to ensure the implementation of the global tax transparency standards across Asia, and their use to fight illicit financial flows and mobilise domestic resources.

The report outlines the collective progress made by Asian jurisdictions in implementing the international tax transparency standards and reinforcing co-operation to tackle tax evasion and other illicit financial flows. Building on the commitments made under the Bali Declaration, this year’s edition reflects how the region’s sustained engagement is leading to continuous progress. It contains numerous figures, case studies and interviews testifying to the impactful results achieved so far, enabling governments and their tax administrations to enhance domestic resource mobilisation.

The report shows that, since the launch of the Asia Initiative in 2021 and the related signing of the Bali Declaration by Asian finance ministers, the regional implementation of international tax transparency standards by its 17 members has led to the identification of EUR 1.9 billion in additional annual revenues in 2024. This includes EUR 1.7 billion identified through exchange of information on request (EOIR) and offshore investigations, and around EUR 200 million through automatic exchange of financial account information, including related voluntary disclosure programmes.

In total, since 2009, at least EUR 24 billion in additional revenue (tax, interest and penalties) have been identified by Asian jurisdictions through the implementation and use of the international tax transparency standards, with further progress expected to continue in the years ahead.

The major recent advances set out in the report include:

• Through the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters (MAAC), Asian jurisdictions have established more than 3,200 bilateral relationships for the exchange of information (EOI) to foster tax cooperation, and most of them have an exchange of information network covering over 140 jurisdictions.
• 18 Asian jurisdictions are committed to starting to automatically exchange financial account information by 2026, and 16 have already started exchanging by the end of 2024.
• 15 Asian jurisdictions fully reviewed in the second round of EOIR peer reviews received a satisfactory rating (“Compliant” or “Largely compliant”).
• 9 Asian jurisdictions committed to implement the Crypto-Assets Reporting Framework (CARF) by 2027 or by 2028.

Asian jurisdictions participating in the Global Forum have enhanced tax transparency and increased revenue. However, non-member Asian countries are missing out on the benefits of these standards, which could help them increase revenue, the report notes.

With 171 members, the Global Forum is the leading multilateral body mandated to ensure that jurisdictions around the world adhere to and effectively implement both the exchange of information on request standard and the standard of automatic exchange of information. These objectives are achieved through a robust monitoring and peer review process. The Global Forum also runs an extensive capacity-building programme to support its members in implementing the standards and help tax authorities make the best use of cross-border information sharing channels.