On August 19 this year, the State Tax Service, as the competent authority of Ukraine, joined the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information (the CRS MCAA), the Ministry of Finance announced on its website.

"The first exchange of information is scheduled for September 2024 for the 2023 calendar year. The agreement to postpone the date of the first exchange was reached following consultations with experts from the OECD Global Forum," the ministry said in a press release.

The Ministry of Finance recalled that Ukraine's joining the CRS MCAA will help create a more transparent tax environment and enhance the image of Ukraine as a reliable and equal partner in international information tax relations.

"In addition, a systematic analysis of information received by the State Tax Service from foreign competent authorities is an important tool for monitoring the timeliness and completeness of declaring assets and incomes subject to taxation, identifying undeclared assets and incomes, and also for combating tax evasion by Ukrainian residents," the ministry said.

At the same time, the Ministry of Finance said that joining the CRS MCAA is a necessary, but not a sufficient condition for the introduction of automatic information exchange. Such an exchange will be possible only after the adoption of the legislation necessary for the implementation of the Common Reporting Standard by Ukraine, passing the audits of the OECD Global Forum on compliance with the requirements of the relevant standards, ensuring the technical ability of the State Tax Service to carry out such exchange of information and fulfilling other conditions determined by Section 7 of the MCAA.

To complete and timely fulfill the necessary steps, the Ministry of Finance coordinates and ensures the implementation of all preparatory stages, the report says.

In particular, the Ministry of Finance has developed a bill with amendments to the Tax Code of Ukraine and other laws on the implementation of the Common Reporting Standard for automatic exchange of information on financial accounts, which will be sent to the Cabinet of Ministers for further submission to the Verkhovna Rada.