DECLARATION
I, Boris Lalovac, Minister of Finance, on behalf of the Competent Authority of the Republic of Croatia, declare that it hereby agrees to comply with the provisions of the
Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on
Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information
hereafter referred to as the «Agreement» and attached to this Declaration.
By means of the present Declaration, the Competent Authority of the Republic of Croatia is to be considered a signatory of the Agreement as from 29 October 2014.The Agreement will come into effect in respect of the Competent Authority of the Republic of Croatia in accordance with Section 7 thereof.
The Annex F notification referred to in Section 3(3) of the Agreement is deposited herewith.
Signed in Berlin on 29 October 2014
Boris Lalovac
Minister of Finance
MULTILATERAL COMPETENT
AUTHORITY AGREEMENT
ON AUTOMATIC EXCHANGE
OF FINANCIAL ACCOUNT INFORMATION
Whereas, the jurisdictions of the signatories to the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information (the «Agreement») are Parties of, or territories covered by, the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters or the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters as amended by the Protocol amending the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters (the «Convention») or have signed or expressed their intention to sign the Convention and acknowledge that the Convention must be in force and in effect in relation to them before the first exchange of financial account information takes place;
Whereas, the jurisdictions intend to improve international tax compliance by further building on their relationship with respect to mutual assistance in tax matters;
Whereas, the Common Reporting Standard was developed by the OECD, with G20 countries, to tackle tax avoidance and evasion and improve tax compliance;
Whereas, a country that has signed or expressed its intention to sign the Convention will only become a Jurisdiction as defined in Section 1 of this Agreement once it has become a Party to the Convention;
Whereas, the laws of the respective Jurisdictions require or are expected to require financial institutions to report information regarding certain accounts and follow related due diligence procedures, consistent with the scope of exchange contemplated by Section 2 of this Agreement and the reporting and due diligence procedures set out in the Common Reporting Standard;
Whereas, it is expected that the laws of the Jurisdictions would be amended from time to time to reflect updates to the Common Reporting Standard and once such changes are enacted by a Jurisdiction the definition of Common Reporting Standard would be deemed to refer to the updated version in respect of that Jurisdiction;
Whereas, Chapter III of the Convention authorises the exchange of information for tax purposes, including the exchange of information on an automatic basis, and allows the competent authorities of the Jurisdictions to agree the scope and modalities of such automatic exchanges;
Whereas, Article 6 of the Convention provides that two or more Parties can mutually agree to exchange information automatically, the exchange of the information will be on a bilateral basis between the Competent Authorities;
Whereas, the Jurisdictions have, or are expected to have, in place by the time the first exchange takes place (i) appropriate safeguards to ensure that the information received pursuant to this Agreement remains confidential and is used solely for the purposes set out in the Convention, and (ii) the infrastructure for an effective exchange relationship (including established processes for ensuring timely, accurate, and confidential information exchanges, effective and reliable communications, and capabilities to promptly resolve questions and concerns about exchanges or requests for exchanges and to administer the provisions of Section 4 of this Agreement);
Whereas, the Competent Authorities of the jurisdictions intend to conclude an agreement to improve international tax compliance based on automatic exchange pursuant to the Convention, without prejudice to national legislative procedures (if any), respecting EU law (if applicable), and subject to the confidentiality and other protections provided for in the Convention, including the provisions limiting the use of the information exchanged thereunder;
Now, therefore, the Competent Authorities have agreed as follows:
SECTION 1
Definitions
1. For the purposes of this Agreement, the following terms have the following meanings:
a) the term «Jurisdiction» means a country or a territory in respect of which the Convention is in force and is in effect, either through signature and ratification in accordance with Article 28, or through territorial extension in accordance with Article 29, and which is a signatory to this Agreement;
b) the term «Competent Authority» means, for each respective Jurisdiction, the persons and authorities listed in Annex B of the Convention;
c) the term «Jurisdiction Financial Institution» means, for each respective Jurisdiction, (i) any Financial Institution that is resident in the Jurisdiction, but excludes any branch of that Financial Institution that is located outside the Jurisdiction, and (ii) any branch of a Financial Institution that is not resident in the Jurisdiction, if that branch is located in the Jurisdiction;
d) the term «Reporting Financial Institution» means any Jurisdiction Financial Institution that is not a Non-Reporting Financial Institution;
e) the term «Reportable Account» means a Financial Account that is maintained by a Reporting Financial Institution and that, pursuant to due diligence procedures consistent with the Common Reporting Standard, has been identified as an account that is held by one or more persons that are Reportable Persons with respect to another Jurisdiction or by a Passive Non-Financial Entity with one or more Controlling Persons that are Reportable Persons with respect to another Jurisdiction,
f) the term «Common Reporting Standard» means the standard for automatic exchange of financial account information in tax matters (which includes the Commentaries), developed by the OECD, with G20 countries;
g) the term «Co-ordinating Body Secretariat» means the OECD Secretariat that, pursuant to paragraph 3 of Article 24 of the Convention, provides support to the co-ordinating body that is composed of representatives of the competent authorities of the Parties to the Convention;
h) the term «Agreement in effect» means, in respect of any two Competent Authorities, that both Competent Authorities have indicated their intention to automatically exchange information with each other and have satisfied the other conditions set out in subparagraph 2.1. of Section 7. The Competent Authorities for which this Agreement is in effect are listed in Annex E.
2. Any capitalised term not otherwise defined in this Agreement will have the meaning that it has at that time under the law of the Jurisdiction applying the Agreement, such meaning being consistent with the meaning set forth in the Common Reporting Standard. Any term not otherwise defined in this Agreement or in the Common Reporting Standard will, unless the context otherwise requires or the Competent Authorities agree to a common meaning (as permitted by domestic law), have the meaning that it has at that time under the law of the Jurisdiction applying this Agreement, any meaning under the applicable tax laws of that Jurisdiction prevailing over a meaning given to the term under other laws of that Jurisdiction.
SECTION 2
Exchange of Information with Respect to Reportable Accounts
1.1. Pursuant to the provisions of Articles 6 and 22 of the Convention and subject to the applicable reporting and due diligence rules consistent with the Common Reporting Standard, each Competent Authority will annually exchange with the other Competent Authorities, with respect to which it has this Agreement in effect, on an automatic basis the information obtained pursuant to such rules and specified in paragraph 2.
1.2. Notwithstanding the previous paragraph, the Competent Authorities of the Jurisdictions listed in Annex A will send, but not receive, the information specified in paragraph 2. Competent Authorities of Jurisdictions not listed in Annex A will always receive the information specified in paragraph 2. Competent Authorities will not send such information to Competent Authorities of the Jurisdictions listed in Annex A.
2. The information to be exchanged is, with respect to each Reportable Account of another Jurisdiction:
a) the name, address, TIN(s) and date and place of birth (in the case of an individual) of each Reportable Person that is an Account Holder of the account and, in the case of any Entity that is an Account Holder and that, after application of due diligence procedures consistent with the Common Reporting Standard, is identified as having one or more Controlling Persons that is a Reportable Person, the name, address, and TIN(s) of the Entity and the name, address, TIN(s) and date and place of birth of each Reportable Person;
b) the account number (or functional equivalent in the absence of an account number);
c) the name and identifying number (if any) of the Reporting Financial Institution;
d) the account balance or value (including, in the case of a Cash Value Insurance Contract or Annuity Contract, the Cash Value or surrender value) as of the end of the relevant calendar year or other appropriate reporting period or, if the account was closed during such year or period, the closure of the account;
e) in the case of any Custodial Account:
(1) the total gross amount of interest, the total gross amount of dividends, and the total gross amount of other income generated with respect to the assets held in the account, in each case paid or credited to the account (or with respect to the account) during the calendar year or other appropriate reporting period; and
(2) the total gross proceeds from the sale or redemption of Financial Assets paid or credited to the account during the calendar year or other appropriate reporting period with respect to which the Reporting Financial Institution acted as a custodian, broker, nominee, or otherwise as an agent for the Account Holder;
f) in the case of any Depository Account, the total gross amount of interest paid or credited to the account during the calendar year or other appropriate reporting period; and
g) in the case of any account not described in subparagraph 2(e) or (f), the total gross amount paid or credited to the Account Holder with respect to the account during the calendar year or other appropriate reporting period with respect to which the Reporting Financial Institution is the obligor or debtor, including the aggregate amount of any redemption payments made to the Account Holder during the calendar year or other appropriate reporting period.
SECTION 3
Time and Manner of Exchange of Information
1. For the purposes of the exchange of information in Section 2, the amount and characterisation of payments made with respect to a Reportable Account may be determined in accordance with the principles of the tax laws of the Jurisdiction exchanging the information.
2. For the purposes of the exchange of information in Section 2, the information exchanged will identify the currency in which each relevant amount is denominated.
3. With respect to paragraph 2 of Section 2, and subject to the notification procedure set out in Section 7, including the dates specified therein, information is to be exchanged commencing from the years specified in Annex F within nine months after the end of the calendar year to which the information relates. Notwithstanding the foregoing sentence, information is only required to be exchanged with respect to a calendar year if both Competent Authorities have this Agreement in effect and their respective Jurisdictions have in effect legislation that requires reporting with respect to such calendar year that is consistent with the scope of exchange provided for in Section 2 and the reporting and due diligence procedures contained in the Common Reporting Standard.
4. [deleted]
5. The Competent Authorities will automatically exchange the information described in Section 2 in the common reporting standard schema in Extensible Markup Language.
6. The Competent Authorities will work towards and agree on one or more methods for data transmission including encryption standards with a view to maximising standardisation and minimising complexities and costs and will specify those in Annex B.
SECTION 4
Collaboration on Compliance and Enforcement
A Competent Authority will notify the other Competent Authority when the first-mentioned Competent Authority has reason to believe that an error may have led to incorrect or incomplete information reporting or there is non-compliance by a Reporting Financial Institution with the applicable reporting requirements and due diligence procedures consistent with the Common Reporting Standard. The notified Competent Authority will take all appropriate measures available under its domestic law to address the errors or non-compliance described in the notice.
SECTION 5
Confidentiality and Data Safeguards
1. All information exchanged is subject to the confidentiality rules and other safeguards provided for in the Convention, including the provisions limiting the use of the information exchanged and, to the extent needed to ensure the necessary level of protection of personal data, in accordance with the safeguards which may be specified by the supplying Competent Authority as required under its domestic law and listed in Annex C.
2. A Competent Authority will notify the Co-ordinating Body Secretariat immediately regarding any breach of confidentiality or failure of safeguards and any sanctions and remedial actions consequently imposed. The Co-ordinating Body Secretariat will notify all Competent Authorities with respect to which this is an Agreement in effect with the first mentioned Competent Authority.
SECTION 6
Consultations and Amendments
1. If any difficulties in the implementation or interpretation of this Agreement arise, a Competent Authority may request consultations with one or more of the Competent Authorities to develop appropriate measures to ensure that this Agreement is fulfilled. The Competent Authority that requested the consultations shall ensure, as appropriate, that the Co-ordinating Body Secretariat is notified of any measures that were developed and the Co-ordinating Body Secretariat will notify all Competent Authorities, even those that did not participate in the consultations, of any measures that were developed.
2. This Agreement may be amended by consensus by written agreement of all of the Competent Authorities that have the Agreement in effect. Unless otherwise agreed upon, such an amendment is effective on the first day of the month following the expiration of a period of one month after the date of the last signature of such written agreement.
SECTION 7
Term of Agreement
1. A Competent Authority must provide, at the time of signature of this Agreement or as soon as possible after its Jurisdiction has the necessary laws in place to implement the Common Reporting Standard, a notification to the Co-ordinating Body Secretariat:
a) that its Jurisdiction has the necessary laws in place to implement the Common Reporting Standard and specifying the relevant effective dates with respect to Preexisting Accounts, New Accounts, and the application or completion of the reporting and due diligence procedures;
b) confirming whether the Jurisdiction is to be listed in Annex A;
c) specifying one or more methods for data transmission including encryption (Annex B);
d) specifying safeguards, if any, for the protection of personal data (Annex C);
e) that it has in place adequate measures to ensure the required confidentiality and data safeguards standards are met and attaching the completed confidentiality and data safeguard questionnaire, to be included in Annex D; and
f) a list of the Jurisdictions of the Competent Authorities with respect to which it intends to have this Agreement in effect, following national legislative procedures (if any).
Competent Authorities must notify the Co-ordinating Body Secretariat, promptly, of any subsequent change to be made to the above-mentioned Annexes.
2.1. This Agreement will come into effect between two Competent Authorities on the later of the following dates: (i) the date on which the second of the two Competent Authorities has provided notification to the Co-ordinating Body Secretariat under paragraph 1, including listing the other Competent Authority’s Jurisdiction pursuant to subparagraph 1(f), and, if applicable, (ii) the date on which the Convention has entered into force and is in effect for both Jurisdictions.
2.2. The Co-ordinating Body Secretariat will maintain a list that will be published on the OECD website of the Competent Authorities that have signed the Agreement and between which Competent Authorities this is an Agreement in effect (Annex E).
2.3. The Co-ordinating Body Secretariat will publish on the OECD website the information provided by Competent Authorities pursuant to subparagraphs 1(a) and (b). The information provided pursuant to subparagraphs 1(c) through (f) will be made available to other signatories upon request in writing to the Co-ordinating Body Secretariat.
3. A Competent Authority may suspend the exchange of information under this Agreement by giving notice in writing to another Competent Authority that it has determined that there is or has been significant non-compliance by the second-mentioned Competent Authority with this Agreement. Such suspension will have immediate effect. For the purposes of this paragraph, significant non-compliance includes, but is not limited to, non-compliance with the confidentiality and data safeguard provisions of this Agreement and the Convention, a failure by the Competent Authority to provide timely or adequate information as required under this Agreement or defining the status of Entities or accounts as Non-Reporting Financial Institutions and Excluded Accounts in a manner that frustrates the purposes of the Common Reporting Standard.
4. A Competent Authority may terminate its participation in this Agreement, or with respect to a particular Competent Authority, by giving notice of termination in writing to the Co-ordinating Body Secretariat. Such termination will become effective on the first day of the month following the expiration of a period of 12 months after the date of the notice of termination. In the event of termination, all information previously received under this Agreement will remain confidential and subject to the terms of the Convention.
SECTION 8
Co-ordinating Body Secretariat
1. Unless otherwise provided for in the Agreement, the Co-ordinating Body Secretariat will notify all Competent Authorities of any notifications that it has received under this Agreement and will provide a notice to all signatories of the Agreement when a new Competent Authority signs the Agreement.
2. All signatories to the Agreement will share equally, on an annual basis, the costs for the administration of the Agreement by the Co-ordinating Body Secretariat. Notwithstanding the previous sentence, qualifying countries will be exempt from sharing the costs in accordance with Article X of the Rules of Procedure of the Co-ordinating Body of the Convention.
Done in English and French, both texts being equally authentic.
ANNEX A:
LIST OF NON-RECIPROCAL JURISDICTIONS
[To be completed]
ANNEX B:
TRANSMISSION METHODS
[To be completed]
ANNEX C:
SPECIFIED DATA SAFEGUARDS
[To be completed]
ANNEX D:
CONFIDENTIALITY QUESTIONNAIRE
[To be completed]
ANNEX E:
COMPETENT AUTHORITIES FOR WHICH THIS IS AN AGREEMENT IN EFFECT
[To be completed]
ANNEX F:
INTENDED EXCHANGE DATES
|
Accounts
|
Intended to be defined as
|
Intended dates to exchange information by
|
|
New Accounts
|
A Financial Account maintained by a Reporting Financial Institution opened on or after 1 January 2016.
|
September 2017
|
|
|
Individual High-Value Accounts
|
Individual Low-Value Accounts
|
Entity Accounts
|
|
Preexisting Accounts
|
A Financial Account maintained by a Reporting Financial Institution as of 31 December 2015.
|
September 2017
|
September 2017 or September 2018, depending on when identified as reportable
|
September 2017 or September 2018, depending on when identified as reportable
|