Malta and Macau agreed to work together to prevent tax evasion and tax avoidance. Macau’s Secretary for Economy and Finance Francis Tam Pak Yuen and the Maltese ambassador to China, Joseph Cassar, signed a tax treaty in Beijing on May 30.
All the legal arrangements between both jurisdictions have been completed and the treaty is likely to come into force in January 2014.
The treaty allows the authorities in Macau and Malta access to other’s data on the financial position and income of their citizens that owe tax, and may reveal undeclared assets and earnings. Such data will include information relevant “to the determination, assessment and collection of taxes, the recovery and enforcement of tax claims, or the investigation or prosecution of tax matters”, the treaty says. The authorities may share information held by banks or other financial institutions. They may share information about the direct or indirect ownership of companies, trusts and foundations, and about partnerships.