Towards an International Code for Administrative Cooperation in Tax Matter and International Tax Governance

Abstract

There is not a “Global Code” that encodes the duty of cooperation between tax authorities in the world, concerning the global tax system. This article addresses this issue by proposing a global Code of administrative cooperation in tax matters including both tax relations: between States, and between States, taxpayers and intermediary’s agents. It follows a wide concept of tax governance. The findings of this research have highlighted several practical applications for future practice. article analyses, firstly, the State of the question, starting with the legal sources (international and European sources of hard law and soft law) reviewing the differences with the Code as here proposed. It also examines some important Agents who emit relevant normative in international administrative tax cooperation and the role that these agents are developing nowadays (sometimes international organizations but also States like the United States, which Congress enacted the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, FATCA). Overlapping and gaps between different regulations are underlined. Finally, the consequences of this “General Code” lack for the functioning of a good international governance, are described. Hence, the need to create an International Cooperation Code on tax matters and international fiscal governance is concluded. That Code could be proposed by any International Organization as the World Bank nature, for instance, or the International Monetary Fund or whichever International or European Organization. This instrument could be documented through a multilateral instrument (soft law), to be signed by the States to become an international legal source (hard law). Filling this Code as Articulated Text (form) could be very useful for the International Community towards an International Tax Governance.

Keywords: Code, international cooperation, FATCA, automatic exchange of information, common reporting standard, global code in tax matters, Art. 26 MC Organisation for Economic Cooperation (OECD) and Development, soft law, global