Published the MEF Decree on changes to the US-Italy Agreement for Automatic Information Exchange

The Decree of the Italian Ministry of the Economy (MEF) of August 09, 2017 on the automatic tax information exchange, published in the Official Gazette on 17.08.2017, amended Annexes A, C and D of the Decree  dated 28.12.2015, containing the implementing provisions of Law 95/2015 (ratification of the FATCA Italy - USA Agreement).

Amendments to the communications standards and adequate tax audit on financial accounts (due diligence) have been introduced in Annex A, in Annexes C and D and have respectively modified the lists of the jurisdictions subject to communication and the list of the jurisdictions participating in the automatic information exchange.

In particular, the list of jurisdictions subject to communication (any EU Member State and any jurisdiction which has signed an agreement with Italy or the European Union under which that jurisdiction will receive relevant information on the accounts that are the subject of communication) increases from 81 to 85, and the list of participating jurisdictions (including any State which has signed an agreement with Italy or the EU in which that jurisdiction will provide the information relating to the accounts to which it relates) renges from 87 to 92.

The changes made by D.M. mentioned above, extending the list of jurisdictions involved in the exchange of financial information, represent another essential milestone in the fight against fraud and international tax evasion.

In this regard, we remember that 2017 was an important year for Italy, which, in order to improve international tax compliance, has signed two new agreements on automatic information exchange on financial accounts: 13.03.2017 with Hong Kong and 21.06.2017 with Panama.