OECD/Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes – MODEL MANUAL ON EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION FOR TAX PURPOSES. This model manual on exchange of information (EOI) has been prepared by the Secretariat of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes (Global Forum) with the co‑operation of the World Bank Group and the African Development Bank. It presents the legal and practical tools available for exchange of information (EOI) to help jurisdictions reap the benefits from international co‑operation. It describes the key principles governing EOI and how the different forms of EOI can assist in the detection of tax evasion and avoidance. This EOI manual has been developed to provide a detailed guide to assist jurisdictions, regardless of their stage of implementation of EOI, to put in place the necessary processes and procedures or to improve existing ones to ensure effective EOI. This EOI manual is a model that can be easily tailored by a jurisdiction to address its specific needs. It covers a wide range of forms of EOI (exchange of information on request, spontaneous exchange of information, simultaneous tax examination and tax examination abroad). It also provides specific guidance on the role of: • the EOI unit, its internal procedures and processes and its communication with field officers and foreign competent authorities for EOI for tax purposes • the field officers and the relevant EOI rules, procedures and processes applicable to them. It also provides checklists for use by EOI staff and a range of template letters to deal with the main communications that EOI units carry out both internally and with treaty partners. This EOI manual complements the toolkit “Establishing and Running an Effective Exchange of Information Function” issued in December 2020 by the Global Forum and the African Tax Administration Forum. The EOI manual is divided into three chapters: • Chapter 1 – Introduction: this chapter introduces the different topics covered in the EOI manual and provides general information on the key actors and rules of EOI. It presents also rules and horizontal issues that apply across the different chapters and sections of the EOI manual. • Chapter 2 – The competent authority and the EOI unit: this chapter is dedicated to competent authorities and EOI units to guide them in their EOI practice. Different forms of administrative assistance are concerned: exchange of information on request, spontaneous exchange of information, but also other EOI forms like simultaneous tax examinations or tax examinations abroad. This EOI manual can be used as a template to develop one tailored for your specific jurisdiction. This chapter covers important aspects of the management including confidentiality rules, record keeping, statistics and measurement of performance. • Chapter 3 – Tax auditors and field officers: this chapter describes the key role played by tax auditors and field officers in EOI. It provides guidance about when to consider making a request for information, how to make or respond to a request, how to respect tax confidentiality rules. Templates are provided to help tax auditors draft their request as efficiently as possible. This structure should allow jurisdictions to develop their own approach. Instead of a comprehensive EOI manual, a jurisdiction may prefer to have a specific manual for the EOI unit operations and a separate manual for field officers and tax auditors. Another jurisdiction may prefer to deal at this stage only with procedures relating to exchange of information on request and then to supplement this with other forms of EOI over time. Assistance from the Global Forum Secretariat is available to help jurisdictions develop their own EOI manual. The EOI manual is intended to be fine‑tuned to fit the need and structure of the tax administration: • In turqoise boxes, comments are provided in some sections and sub‑sections to explain the requirements. • The parts of the EOI manual that appear in square brackets and are highlighted in light red serve to identify the information that the tax administration needs to complete according to its situation (administrative organisation and practice, legal framework).
