Rwanda has finally signed the ‘Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (MCAA).
The agreement was signed on Tuesday by the Commissioner General of Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA), Pascal Ruganintwali, who is also Rwanda’s ‘competent authority’ under international law.
MCAA is a multilateral framework agreement that provides an efficient mechanism for the automatic exchange of information, in the spirit of expanding the information exchange relationship which was in place based on bilateral agreements.
In 2017, Rwanda joined the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for tax purposes; an international system which allows tax authorities to exchange information between themselves.
Run by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the forum is the leading international body working on the implementation of exchange of information standards around the world.
The 166 member countries have implemented robust standards that have prompted a high level of transparency in tax matters.
In 2022 Rwanda ratified the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters, to which 147 countries are signatory.
This year, Rwanda is finalising laws designed to increase tax transparency and curb for tax avoidance by complex structured businesses.
According to the UN, offshore tax evasion and illicit financial flows (IFFs) rob Africa of an estimated US$88 billion each year.
A key weapon in the fight against IFFs is tax transparency and the exchange of information between tax authorities around the world.
