On April 9, 2013, the Finance Ministers of the U.K., France, Germany, Italy and Spain notified the EU Tax Commissioner Algirdas Šemeta that they have agreed to work on a pilot multilateral exchange facility between their countries using the model FATCA intergovernmental agreement with the U.S. as the basis for this multilateral exchange. The pilot will not only assist in deterring and prosecuting tax evaders, but it will also provide a template as to the wider multilateral agreement that they hope to see in the future. They invited other EU Members to joint in this pilot and said they hoped that the EU can take a lead in promoting a global system of automatic information exchange.
Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, David Gauke said: "This is an important further step in the fight against tax evasion and represents the next stage in promoting a new standard in the automatic exchange of tax information. This builds on the agreements we have reached with the Isle of Man, Guernsey and Jersey and the discussions currently underway with the Overseas Territories."
Mr. Gauke said the U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron has announced how he wants to use the UK's presidency of the G8 to explore options for greater levels of tax information exchange, particularly on a multilateral basis.
The implications are significant. The announcement puts pressure on Luxembourg and Austria to not veto the initiative. Luxembourg Finance Minister Luc Frieden has in fact already announced his government will not block the initiative.
The announcement is welcome news for many financial institutions and governments since it means to prospects now are greater for more uniformity and harmonization in the substantive and procedural rules of automatic exchange of information.