According to a report issued in relation to the international standard for exchange of information for tax purposes (the EOI Standard), Singapore has modified its tax code to put in place the legislative framework to deal with Group Requests, from November 28, 2014.
The OECD’s Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes affirmed last year, that Singapore’s EOI regime was in line with the EOI Standard, both in terms of legal framework and implementation. In fact, an amendment to Singapore’s laws, to lift the domestic tax interest requirement and remove restrictions on access to information held by banks and trust companies came into effect from November 2013.
In addition, following the October 2014 Global Forum meeting, it was decided that requests for information on a group of taxpayers not individually identified but which have certain characteristics in common (Group Requests) are also to be regarded as coming within the scope of EOI requests based on the EOI Standard. With the legal amendment in force from last month, Singapore is now also able to assist with Group Requests from its tax treaty partners, subject to reciprocity.
