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MANILA – The passage of Senate Resolution No. 139, concurring with the ratification of the Philippines’ participation in the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters (MAAC), will help stop tax evasion and avoidance in the country, Finance Secretary Ralph Recto said on Thursday.
The MAAC is a comprehensive multilateral instrument available for all forms of administrative cooperation between signatories in the assessment and collection of taxes.
Jointly developed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Council of Europe in 1988 and amended by the Protocol in 2010, it has been signed by 147 countries and ratified by over 100 countries.
Recto said he was glad that MAAC is now in full force in the Philippines.
‘To fund our people’s growing needs, we need more tools like this to enhance our revenue-generating capacity. This is definitely a crucial weapon in our arsenal to fight tax evasion that ultimately denies every Filipino’s right to have the qualit
y public goods and services they deserve,’ Recto said in a statement.
Recto said the MAAC would significantly improve tax administration since it gives the government access to data exchange, assessment, and enforcement tools with over a hundred partner signatories.
It will also allow the Philippines to enter into agreements on simultaneous tax examinations and exchanges of information.
The MAAC gives the Philippine government access to tax information of other jurisdictions; decreases the risk of a downgrade on the country’s tax transparency; and saves time, financial, and human resources on treaty negotiations.
The country will also gain third-party information to support assessment and enforcement programs like the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s Run After Tax Evaders program.
To ensure the integrity of the cooperation, the MAAC contains safeguards to protect the confidentiality of information exchanged between tax authorities, upholding taxpayers’ right to privacy.
Source: Philippines News agency
