The country's commitment to internationally agreed standards of transparency and exchange of information for taxation purposes was the crux of a workshop organised by the Ministry of Finance in collaboration with the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development.
The workshop reviewed a series of issues of close relevance to tax and monetary policies developed to realign taxation with economic substance and value creation, while preventing double taxation.
Financial methodologies relevant to the base erosion and profit shifting, BEPS, were on top of the meeting agenda. BEPS refers tax avoidance strategies that exploit gaps and mismatches in tax rules to artificially shift profits to low or no-tax.
The workshop was chaired by Khalid Ali Al Bustani, Assistant Under-Secretary for International Financial Affairs, who reiterated "the UAE's commitment to international tax agreements, being a widely - recognised criteria to enhance tax transparency and curb tax evasion, the fight against which has become a priority in the wake of the financial crises the world has gone through over the past years."
The UAE has signed 104 bilateral agreements with different world countries to ensure avoidance of double taxation and eight agreements to streamline exchange of information for taxation considerations in addition to a cooperation agreement with the USA to enforce the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, FATCA.

Source: WAM