China to step up international co-operation in fight against tax evasion
Amid revelations about use of offshore havens, the mainland's tax commissioner plans greater international co-operation to pursue evaders
The mainland's tax commissioner, Wang Jun, says international co-operation to combat tax evasion will be stepped up.
His comments were posted on the State Administration of Taxation's website just days after the international focus on tax evasion and money laundering was intensified following revelations from the US-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).
China would fulfil its responsibilities as a big nation in international tax initiatives, while using international co-operation to reform its tax system, Wang said at an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) taxation forum in Paris this week.
He urged nations to improve their tax laws and tax collection.
Sherie Ng, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia managing director of Nice Actimize, a Nasdaq-listed provider of software to counter financial crime and money laundering, said China and other nations were likely to adopt their own versions of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (Fatca), a US law that aims to combat tax evasion by US citizens abroad.
Fatca, which will take effect on July 1, requires foreign financial institutions to report to the US government information about American taxpayers or foreign firms in which US taxpayers hold substantial ownership.
In 2012 Beijing recovered taxes worth US$5.7 billion, 30 times the amount in 2008, the tax administration said.