On January 24, 2018, another six states signed the Multilateral Convention for the Implementation of Activities under the BEPS Plan (MLI Convention). In this regard, the countries were able to amend promptly their agreements on avoidance of double taxation, taking into account the recommendations developed by the OECD in the framework of the plan of action to counteract the base erosion and withdrawal of profits from taxation.
Barbados, Côte d’Ivoire, Jamaica, Malaysia, Panama and Tunisia joined the MLI Convention, after which the total number of signers reached 78.
It is also worth noting that Algeria, Kazakhstan, Oman and Swaziland have announced their intention to sign the Convention in the near future. In addition, other jurisdictions are actively working on signing the agreement in June this year, as the press service of the OECD reports.
To date, four jurisdictions – Austria, the Isle of Man, Jersey and Poland – have ratified the Convention, which will enter into force three months after the fifth part of jurisdictions transfers the instruments of ratification to storage.
The Convention, developed as part of large-scale negotiations involving more than 100 countries and jurisdictions, is designed to allow the countries to include promptly the proposed amendments into their tax agreements without necessity to review individually the last ones on a bilateral basis.