Update On Canada's Implementation Of The OECD's Plans To Combat Tax Avoidance

On October 5, 2015, the OECD released fifteen Final Reports on its project entitled, Base Erosion and Profit Shifting ("BEPS"), intended to "restore confidence in the system (of international taxation) and ensure that profits are taxed where economic activities take place and value is created" (a statement that is present in the foreword to each Report). The OECD's prescription for combatting BEPS is Transparency and Automatic Exchange of Tax Information. This approach reflects a significant shift in international standards from disclosing mere legal ownership of financial assets to ferreting out the ultimate beneficial ownership.¹

Common Reporting Standard

The OECD has promulgated a process to combat tax secrecy and tax evasion, and to promote transparency through the automatic exchange of information known as the Common Reporting Standard ("CRS").²