Citation, commencement, effect and interpretation
1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the International Tax Compliance Regulations 2015 and come into force on 15th April 2015.
(2) These Regulations have effect for and in connection with the implementation of obligations arising under the agreements and arrangements listed in paragraph (3) and apply separately in relation to each of those agreements or arrangements except where the context otherwise requires.
(3) The agreements and arrangements are—
(a)Council Directive 2011/16/EU(1) (“the DAC”),
(b)the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on the Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information signed by the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on 29th October 2014 in relation to agreements with the participating jurisdictions listed in the table in Schedule 1 to improve international tax compliance based on the standard for automatic exchange of financial account information developed by the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (“the CRS”)(2),
(c)the agreement reached between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the United States of America to improve international tax compliance and to implement FATCA, signed on 12th September 2012(3) (“the FATCA agreement”).
(4) These Regulations have effect from—
(a)1st January 2016 in relation to the DAC and the CRS, and
(b)15th April 2015 in relation to the FATCA agreement.
(5) In these Regulations, a reference to “relevant agreement” means such agreement or arrangement referred to in paragraph (3) as the context requires, as that agreement or arrangement has effect from time to time.
(6) Any expression which is defined in a relevant agreement but not in section 222 or 235 of FA 2013 or in these Regulations has the same meaning in these Regulations as in the relevant agreement.
OJ No L 64, 11.3.2011, p1, relevantly amended by Council Directive 2014/107/EU, OJ No L 359, 16.12.2014, p1.
The standard for automatic exchange of financial account information developed by the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (“the OECD”) is available on the OECD website at http://www.oecd.org/ctp/exchange-of-tax-information/standard-for-automatic-exchange-of-financial-information-in-tax-matters.htm. The OECD Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on the Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information is available on OECD website at http://www.oecd.org/ctp/exchange-of-tax-information/multilateral-competent-authority-agreement.pdf.
That agreement, as signed on that date, is contained in a Command Paper published by the Stationery Office Ltd with the title “Agreement between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the United States of America to Improve International Tax Compliance and to Implement FATCA” (Cm 8445, 2012); the Command Paper is available on the Official Documents website at http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/cm84/8445/8445.pdf.