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The UK has suspended all exchange of tax information with
Russia and Belarus under the UK’s exchange of information
agreements
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Move is among a number of measures being taken within the tax
system to support Ukraine and inflict economic pain on
Putin’s regime
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UK Government has already announced plans for families
participating in the new Homes for Ukraine scheme to receive
a £350-a-month tax-free payment and an easement on customs to
make it easier to supply humanitarian aid to Ukraine
The UK exchanges tax information with Russia under the Convention
on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters and Russia and
Belarus under bilateral Double Tax Agreements.
This tax information is exchanged as part of global collaboration
to address tax compliance risks, however, today’s decision to
suspend tax information exchange will ensure the UK is not
supplying Putin’s regime with information that could lead to an
increased tax benefit or yield for Russia.
The Rt Hon , Financial Secretary to
the Treasury, said:
We stand shoulder to shoulder with the people of Ukraine and want
to do everything we can to support them.
As we look to put Vladimir Putin’s regime under decisive economic
pressure, it would not be right to continue to exchange tax
information with Russia and Belarus.
Along with the other economic measures we’ve already taken, this
step will help starve Putin of the resources he needs to carry
out his barbaric campaign of violence.
Suspending exchange of tax information, which will come into
effect today, means that Russia will no longer receive
information under any of the UK’s exchange of information
agreements: Exchange of Information on Request, Common Reporting
Standard or Country-by-country Reporting.
Today’s suspensions are one of a number of tax measures being
taken by HMRC and the Treasury to support Ukraine and inflict
economic pain on Putin’s regime.
For example, within the last week, the UK Government has
announced that the £350-a-month payment made to families taking
part in the new Homes for Ukraine scheme will be tax free, as
well as HM Treasury and HMRC’s decision to ease custom
declarations on aid and donations going to the people of Ukraine,
making it easier to supply humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
These new economic measures demonstrate how the UK’s tax system
can be utilised as part of the UK-wide response to Russia’s
invasion of Ukraine, assisting in both adding additional economic
pressure to Putin’s war regime and in providing practical and
sustained support to the people of Ukraine.
This comes on top of introducing a ban on exports to Russia of
high-end luxury goods, imposing asset freezes and travel bans on
leading oligarchs and members of the Russian Duma, as well as
providing humanitarian aid to Ukraine totalling almost £400
million and defensive weapons, including more than 4,000
anti-tank missiles, and essential civilian supplies like
generators and medicines.
Further information
- Find here
the full Written Ministerial Statement on the UK suspension of
exchange of tax information with Russia and Belarus
- The tax information system is a multilateral system that
provides for collaboration on tax compliance risks via
information exchange. The UK has therefore, alongside other
international partners, shared tax information as part of the
global effort to collaborate on tax compliance risks.
- The United Kingdom exchanges information with Russia under
the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters
and Russia and Belarus under bilateral Double Tax Agreements.
- Tax information is predominantly used to counter tax evasion
and profit shifting, and for avoidance risk assessment purposes.
- Suspending exchange of tax information means that Russia will
not receive information under any of the UK’s exchange of
information agreements: Exchange of Information on Request
(EoIR), Common Reporting Standard (CRS) or Country-by-country
Reporting (CBCR).
- Belarus is not signed up to the CRS or CBCR, so only EoIR
information is being suspended.
