Luxembourg has been upgraded to largely compliant in new compliance ratings on transparency in tax matters released today by The Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes.
Following a peer review process, Luxembourg received an overall rating of 'largely compliant' and was commended for the country's commitment towards the implementation of international agreed transparency standards for tax purposes. Luxembourg's rating sets it alongside other countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands and Italy.
"We welcome this new compliance rating which recognises Luxembourg's efforts and commitment to transparency and exchange of information," commented Luxembourg Minister of Finance, Pierre Gramegna. "Luxembourg is no longer blacklisted. This is the result of a precise action plan which not only included a series of legislative and regulatory measures but also saw us improve our communication processes with international partners. We will continue to advocate for a global level playing field and support exchange of information on a broader basis."
Luxembourg stands among the early adopters of the application of automatic exchange at OECD level, the so-called Common Reporting Standard (CRS). From 2017, nearly 60 jurisdictions from 2017 will exchange reportable information from 2016.
Banking secrecy was abolished by Luxembourg in 2014, in the context of the automatic exchange of information for EU residency which has been in force since the beginning of 2015. In July earlier this year, the automatic exchange of information for US persons under the provisions of FATCA entered into force.
Photo by Ministry of Finance (L-R: Pascale Toussing, Tax Manager; Pierre Gramegna, Minister of Finance)
