OECD updates anti-tax evasion list

Europe’s attempts to clean up tax evasion and money laundering took a step forward yesterday when an international task group said that Austria — a eurozone nation that was until recently falling short —was almost fully compliant with new international standards.

The Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax is a taskforce of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris. It was given additional powers by the world’s leading powers following the global financial crisis.

Moves against tax havens and off-shore centres across the world had gone into abeyance for some time. But the new impetus meant many countries now aim to share information about their citizens and corporations.