Signed in Andorra la Vella, the agreement stems from a commitment made by Mariano Rajoy and Antoni Martí at a meeting held in Madrid on 12 September 2012 to consolidate and further develop relations between the two countries, including tax relations. Spain and Andorra today signed a document that follows the OECD model agreement.
The document refers to the treatment of dividends, interests, fees and capital gains in the same way as the France-Andorra agreement and will enable double taxation to be avoided. Furthermore, a number of anti-abuse clauses have been included with regard to application of the agreement. The new document will enable the promotion of trade and investment relations between Spain and Andorra.
Furthermore, the agreement includes an article on fiscal information that expands upon the effects of the current Information Exchange Agreement signed by the two countries in January 2010. The article included in the document will enable the exchange between Andorra and Spain of information of essential tax relevance to be improved, including banking information.
Hence, not only will it enable the exchange of such information - subsequent to the issue of individual requests (as has been the case until now) - but will also allow progress to be made on such issues as "group requests" or the identification of the subject regarding which information is required. This represents substantial progress with respect to the current situation.
For example, as from 1 January 2016, Spain will be able to request information from Andorra about a group of residents in Spain who own the same financial product with an Andorran banking entity and which has not been declared to the Spanish Treasury. It will be possible to file requests for information on financial years in which the previous agreement was in effect.
Furthermore, the ADT signed today expands upon the exchange of information towards other forms of cooperation, such as the automatic exchange of information or joint checks.
As regards the automatic exchange of information, the document refers to the meeting of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information held in Berlin in October 2014, at which over 50 countries and jurisdictions agreed on the automatic exchange of tax information from financial accounts in 2017, as per the model of the OECD Declaration of June 2014.
Andorra is among those countries and territories that have committed to undertaking such automatic exchange of information as from 2018. In this regard, Andorra states in the agreement that it is willing to exchange information automatically as soon as it effectively adopts the common standard provided for by the OECD, to which the Government of Andorra is committed.
The ADT signed today with Andorra, and which requires parliamentary ratification before coming into effect, is part of the goal sought by the Ministry of the Treasury of signing more agreements of this nature. Similarly, it intends to expand the network of information exchange agreements.
The agreements to avoid double taxation and information exchange agreements signed or approved during this parliament include those with Bahrain, Austria, the United Kingdom, India, Uzbekistan, Cyprus, Argentina and the United States. In March 2014, the Council of Ministers authorised the signing of information exchange agreements with the British Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man.
The document refers to the treatment of dividends, interests, fees and capital gains in the same way as the France-Andorra agreement and will enable double taxation to be avoided. Furthermore, a number of anti-abuse clauses have been included with regard to application of the agreement. The new document will enable the promotion of trade and investment relations between Spain and Andorra.
Banking information
Furthermore, the agreement includes an article on fiscal information that expands upon the effects of the current Information Exchange Agreement signed by the two countries in January 2010. The article included in the document will enable the exchange between Andorra and Spain of information of essential tax relevance to be improved, including banking information.
Hence, not only will it enable the exchange of such information - subsequent to the issue of individual requests (as has been the case until now) - but will also allow progress to be made on such issues as "group requests" or the identification of the subject regarding which information is required. This represents substantial progress with respect to the current situation.
For example, as from 1 January 2016, Spain will be able to request information from Andorra about a group of residents in Spain who own the same financial product with an Andorran banking entity and which has not been declared to the Spanish Treasury. It will be possible to file requests for information on financial years in which the previous agreement was in effect.
Steps towards automatic information
Furthermore, the ADT signed today expands upon the exchange of information towards other forms of cooperation, such as the automatic exchange of information or joint checks.As regards the automatic exchange of information, the document refers to the meeting of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information held in Berlin in October 2014, at which over 50 countries and jurisdictions agreed on the automatic exchange of tax information from financial accounts in 2017, as per the model of the OECD Declaration of June 2014.
Andorra is among those countries and territories that have committed to undertaking such automatic exchange of information as from 2018. In this regard, Andorra states in the agreement that it is willing to exchange information automatically as soon as it effectively adopts the common standard provided for by the OECD, to which the Government of Andorra is committed.
More agreements of this nature
The ADT signed today with Andorra, and which requires parliamentary ratification before coming into effect, is part of the goal sought by the Ministry of the Treasury of signing more agreements of this nature. Similarly, it intends to expand the network of information exchange agreements.
The agreements to avoid double taxation and information exchange agreements signed or approved during this parliament include those with Bahrain, Austria, the United Kingdom, India, Uzbekistan, Cyprus, Argentina and the United States. In March 2014, the Council of Ministers authorised the signing of information exchange agreements with the British Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man.
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