No. 10 of 2013 – Mutual Legal Assistance (Tax Matters) (Amendment) Act, 2013

Summary

This Act amends the Mutual Legal Assistance (Tax Matters) Act, 2003 in two respects: it clarifies the International Tax Authority's powers when acting under an international Agreement, and it introduces a new general penalty provision for breaches of obligations under the principal Act.

• Section 3(4) replaced: Confirms that anything the Authority is required to do under a request made pursuant to an Agreement is treated as an exercise of its powers under the Act, and that the coming into force of an Agreement does not prevent the Authority requesting or receiving information about criminal tax matters that occurred before the Agreement or the Act took effect.
• New Section 21 inserted (General penalty): Where the Act imposes an obligation on a person (other than the Authority or someone acting on its directive) and no specific penalty is prescribed, failure to comply with that obligation is made a criminal offence.
• Penalty: A person convicted on indictment of this offence is liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred thousand dollars or imprisonment for up to five years, or both.

The amendment does not change who is regulated under the principal Act but strengthens enforcement by ensuring that any obligation without an already-specified penalty is nonetheless backed by a criminal sanction.

Key obligations

• Any person (other than the Authority or someone acting under its directive) subject to an obligation under the Mutual Legal Assistance (Tax Matters) Act, 2003 must comply with that obligation, since non-compliance where no specific penalty is prescribed now constitutes a criminal offence punishable by a fine of up to $100,000 or imprisonment of up to five years.

Applies to

persons subject to obligations under the Mutual Legal Assistance (Tax Matters) Act, 2003, the International Tax Authority

Deadlines

• 20th June 2013: Act gazetted

Related documents

• This document amends Mutual Legal Assistance (Tax Matters) Act, 2003 (No. 18 of 2003)