Exchange of Information

Who We Are

On 1 January 2020 the role of the Vanuatu Competent Authority for Exchange of Information for tax purposes was transferred to the Director of Customs & Inland Revenue from the Manager Revenue Policy Unit at the Department of Finance and Treasury to the Department of Customs and Inland Revenue (who was delegated as Competent Authority by the Minister of Finance and Economic Management under the now repealed International Tax Cooperation Act).

The EOI unit at DCIR was established on that date and there are currently three (3) officers dedicated to carry out the functions of this unit.

The Vanuatu Competent Authority is responsible for managing Vanuatu’s obligations under the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters (MAAC) and Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEAs). (Vanuatu’s International Obligations).

Our International Obligations

Vanuatu is a member of the OECD Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes and is committed to helping minimize international tax avoidance and fraud.

Vanuatu along with 128 other states, has signed the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters and has agreed to meet the agreed standard for transparency and effective exchange of tax information.

Vanuatu has signed 14 Tax Information Agreements (TIEA) with other tax jurisdictions that allows tax information to be exchanged on request.

Vanuatu signed a declaration on joining the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information (CRS MCAA) on 21 June 2018 to commence exchanging financial account information automatically with other MCAA member jurisdictions.

What We Do

The EOI Unit is responsible for receiving and responding to exchange of information requests for tax purposes from other tax jurisdictions in which Vanuatu has a Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA).

This unit is also responsible for ensuring that all reporting financial institutions in Vanuatu who are registered for Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) upload their reports by the due date in accordance with the Common Reporting Standard (CRS).

Our Objectives

To ensure that all exchange of information on requests are completed in a timely manner with all the information requested provided for.

To ensure reporting financial institutions (FIs) registered for AEOI comply with the CRS requirements and the automatic exchanges are done on the due date each year.

To address the recommendations raised in the assessment for EOIR and AEOI from the OECD Global Forum Peer Review Group to ensure that Vanuatu maintains a compliant rating in both assessments which will also help Vanuatu’s overall position in the European Union Code of Conduct Group (EU-COGC)

Important Information for Financial Institutions

Schedule 2 of Part 12 of the Tax Administration Regulation Order No.154 of 2019 sets out Automatic Exchange of Information obligations under the CRS. Registration date for new FIs obliged to register for Automatic Exchange of Information on the Multi Data Exchange System (MDES) is from 1^st February to 31^st March each year.

The reporting dateline for RFIs to have all the financial reports uploaded into MDES is 31^st May each year. DCIR will be carrying out CRS Compliance checks on selected FIs on a quarterly basis each year.

Failure to comply with the EOI and AEOI obligations in part 12 of the Tax Administration Regulation Order No.14 of 2019 are stated in Part 12 Subsection 52(3) and 52(4).

Message to Financial Institutions & Our Stakeholders

The Vanuatu Competent Authority would like to acknowledge all the financial institutions who have registered for AEOI via the MDES portal and are submitting the reports in accordance with the Applied CRS.

We would like to acknowledge our stakeholders, the Vanuatu Financial Services Commission, Vanuatu Financial Intelligence Unit and the Reserve Bank of Vanuatu for the continuous collaborations in ensuring Vanuatu continues to implement OECD and EU requirements to meet international standards.

Automatic Exchange of Information

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