Exchange of Information on Taxation between Singapore and Indonesia

In a meeting on 15 December 2014, Singapore Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Indonesia’s Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro noted the excellent cooperation enjoyed by both the Indonesian and Singapore tax authorities on tax matters, and agreed as a next step to update the existing Avoidance of Double Taxation Agreement (DTA) to promote further investment and trade flows between both countries. This included incorporating the internationally agreed standard on exchange of information upon request into the DTA.

As for automatic exchange of information (AEOI), DPM Tharman and Minister Bambang noted that Singapore and Indonesia, as members of the Global Forum for Transparency and Exchange of Information, have both endorsed AEOI as a global standard, and committed to timelines for its implementation. Singapore is targeting an implementation date of 2018 while Indonesia has committed to implement AEOI by 2017.

Singapore's implementation of AEOI remains guided by the following principles:

(a) Singapore will be able to implement AEOI if it is adopted in all key financial centres in Europe and Asia, to avoid regulatory arbitrage;

(b) AEOI also needs to be done within a robust framework of law to protect taxpayer confidentiality and ensure that the information is used properly. This is particularly important as AEOI entails the transmission of sensitive taxpayer information which should be safeguarded; and

(c) There must be reciprocity with any future AEOI partners in terms of information exchanged.

Singapore’s priority now is to implement the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act Intergovernmental Agreement properly, before we take on additional AEOI obligations. Singapore continues in the meantime to effectively exchange information with our EOI partners, including Indonesia.