Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the scope of the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on automatic exchange of taxpayer information recently signed in Berlin; and if he will make a statement.

The Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (MCAA) signed in Berlin is the instrument which will give effect to exchange under the new global standard of automatic tax information exchange by its signatories. At the signing event in Berlin 51 countries and jurisdictions signed the MCAA and we expect the other countries committed to implementation to do so shortly.

Implementation of the global standard will lead to step change in the international communities’ ability to tackle offshore tax evasion.