New Zealand has signed Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEA) with St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Dominica.

On March 17th Peter Dunne, New Zealand Revenue Minister, announced that New Zealand had signed two new TIEA agreements, bringing the national total to 15. The newly signed bilateral agreements are Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) model documents which provide a internationally agreed upon standard for the exchange of tax data between participating nations in civil and criminal investigations. The new TIEAs will come into effect when each country in the agreement gives legal effect to the document, which in New Zealand occurs by Order of the Council.

TIEAs have become an important benchmark for nations as means of demonstrating commitment to internationally agreed upon standards of taxation transparency. A jurisdiction with 12 or more signed TIEAs will be considered to have adequately implemented these standards, and be placed on the “White List” of nations. New Zealand currently resides on the White List, while both signing parties are ranked in the Grey List.

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