Costa Rica improves fiscal transparency by adopting international tax information agreement

Costa Rica moved forward on Friday with a comprehensive multilateral agreement on tax cooperation and exchange of information that allows the country to improve fiscal transparency.

The agreement will take effect in Costa Rica on Aug. 1, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a group composed of 34 countries, announced on Friday.

The convention, which was developed jointly by the OECD and the Council of Europe, is a global instrument for international tax cooperation and exchange of information. It provides a multilateral basis for a wide variety of administrative assistance, including information exchanges on request, simultaneous tax examinations and assistance in the collection of tax debts.

“Costa Rica continues to make significant progress on transparency and exchange of information,” OECD Secretary General Angel Gurría said.

Finance Minister Edgar Ayales, who met with Gurría, noted that, “the ratification of this convention is another milestone in Costa Rica’s longstanding commitment towards tax transparency. Through the application of this convention and recent amendments to our domestic legislation, we look forward to contributing to the cross-border fight against tax evasion.”

President Laura Chinchilla signed the Fiscal Transparency Law and the Law for Strengthening Tax Administration last September.

Any country can sign the convention, which entered into force on June 1, 2011.