Rada adopts at first reading bill on international exchange of financial data

KYIV. Nov 17 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Bill No. 8131 on the introduction in Ukraine of two international standards in the field of transparency and information exchange for tax purposes, or the Common Reporting Standard CRS, approved by the OECD, was supported at the first reading by the Verkhovna Rada on Wednesday with 243 votes, while the required minimum is 226 votes.

"The introduction of the CRS requirements into the national legislation will ensure Ukraine’s accession to the international information exchange system with the participants of the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on the Automatic exchange of information on financial accounts (MCAA)," the Ministry of Finance said, commenting on the importance of the document on its website.

The ministry said that the main changes to the Tax Code of Ukraine proposed by the bill include, in particular, a direct requirement for financial agents to apply the CRS rules when carrying out due diligence of financial accounts and submit information on the financial accounts of residents to the State Tax Service other jurisdictions participating in the CRS Multilateral Agreement.

In addition, the bill regulates the functions and powers of regulatory authorities to ensure control over the implementation of new rules by financial agents and account holders; requirements for the storage of documents; the rights of regulatory authorities to collect information and documents to fulfill their international obligations to exchange information for tax purposes.

"The adoption of the bill will ensure the proper fulfillment of international obligations on the exchange of information for tax purposes by Ukraine, increase the transparency and reliability of Ukraine as a partner state for the exchange of information, and will also contribute to the prevention of tax evasion and increase the level of compliance with tax legislation," the Ministry of Finance said.