Law on the exchange of information on tax matters upon request

Adoption of OECD international standards in the area of ​​transparency

Information upon request

The process of adopting OECD international standards by Andorra in the field of transparency dates back to the Paris Declaration of 10 March 2009, at which time Andorra made a commitment to being a process of legislative reform to incorporate the exchange of information on fiscal matters in accordance with article 26 of the OECD Convention.

On 7 September 2009, the General Council adopted Law 3/2009 which regulates the sharing of fiscal information upon request. This Law would allow for the effective implementation of subsequent agreements on the exchange of information upon request between Andorra and other states.

To date, Andorra has signed Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEA) and double taxation treaties (DTT). This has been possible thanks to Andorra’s new legal and fiscal framework.

The Government of Andorra signed the OECD convention regarding mutual administrative assistance on tax matters on 5 November 2013, which was approved by the General Council on 28 July 2016. This multilateral agreement, which comprises more than 100 jurisdictions, creates a series of mechanisms and instruments for establishing common grounds and procedures for mutual assistance in tax matters. The Convention also provides for the exchange of information upon request by signatory states, and significantly expands the number of states with which Andorra exchanges information as of the effective date. In addition, the Convention provides for a new type of information exchange, spontaneous exchange of information, where a state may, without a prior request, provide another state with information that may in some cases be of interest to the other state. This Convention took effect on 1 December 2016.

“The multilateral agreement with the OECD and the General Council on mutual administrative assistance in tax matters, comprising more than 100 jurisdictions, creates a series of mechanisms and instruments for establishing common grounds and procedures for mutual assistance on tax matters.”

Finally, the agreement between the Principality of Andorra and the European Union regarding the automatic exchange of information on financial accounts to improve tax compliance (EU Agreement), signed by the Principality of Andorra on 12 February 2016 and approved by the General Council at the session held on 20 October 2016, incorporates significant changes into the framework for the exchange of information on tax matters upon request between member states of the European Union. The EU Agreement took effect on 1 January 2017.

There are three different agreements or treaties under which the signatory countries to the EU agreement and the multilateral agreement of the Council of Europe and the OECD regarding mutual administrative assistance on tax matters may request information exchanges: the EU Agreement, the agreement on mutual administrative assistance in tax matters and, where applicable, the administrative assistance clause of a DTT. Given the relevance of these international agreements and treaties and based on Andorra’s experience applying Law 3/2009, it was deemed appropriate to draft a new law that addresses in a clear and coherent manner all the regulatory changes that must be carried out, updates the regulations regarding the exchange of information on tax matters upon request and introduces the spontaneous exchange of information for the first time.