Washington -- The fight against abusive tax shelters has gone global.
Tax commissioners from the United States, Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom are laying the groundwork to form a joint task force that would “collaborate and coordinate” information regarding abusive tax shelter transactions in those countries.
The goals of the international tax task force would be to:
- Share their respective experiences regarding abusive tax shelters, and to identify and understand abusive transactions and emerging schemes, as well promoters of those products.
- Exchange information about specific transactions, their promoters and investors within the framework of the countries’ existing tax treaties.
- Increase effectiveness and efficiency of enforcement policies regarding abusive tax transactions.
The administrations said a primary reason for deploying the global effort is that abusive tax transactions often cross borders and promoters of those strategies operate on a global basis. Tax officials from the four countries will convene in Washington in April to finalize the initiative.
