Information Sharing and International Taxation

Abstract

The sharing between national tax authorities of taxpayer-specific information has emerged over the last few years as a - probably 'the' - central issue in the formation of international tax policy. Yet this refocusing of the debate on international taxation - away from parametric tax coordination and towards strengthening information exchange - has gone largely unnoticed in the public finance literature. This paper gives an overview of this increasingly important area of international taxation, reviewing the key economic, legal and practical concepts and issues bearing on the analysis and implementation of information exchange, and providing an account of recent policy initiatives and emerging theoretical insights.

Keywords: International tax evasion, tax competition, tax information exchange, tax treaties, money laundering, savings tax directive

JEL Classification: H77, H87, F42