Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes

1. S. 505Introduction

‘For many years it was rather common to accept an information exchange only upon request. The 1963 OECD Commentary on Art. 26 (at para. 7) held spontaneous information to be inadmissible. The 1977 OECD Commentary on Art. 26, on the contrary, regarded spontaneous information as admissible (at para. 9), although the wording of the OECD Model had not changed in this respect. The current OECD Commentary on Art. 26 provides for the application of all forms of information exchange mentioned above. The Commentary even states that the manner in which the exchange of information agreed to in the Double Tax Convention will be effected can be decided upon by the competent authorities of the contracting states’.

The current OECD Model Commentary on Article 26 states in paragraph 9 that the information can be exchanged in three different ways: automatic, spontaneous and on request. It does not, however, restrict the possibilities of exchange of information to these three ‘traditional forms’. Since the OECD Model Commentary 2000 three ‘other forms’ are mentioned without the aim of having all applicable forms exhaustively listed, as the contracting states may use or develop other me...