Canada Promotes Growth that Works for Everyone at G20 Meeting

From: Department of Finance Canada

News release

July 22, 2018 – Buenos Aires, Argentina – Department of Finance Canada

The Government of Canada is investing in growth that benefits everyone – in Canada, and around the world.

Finance Minister Bill Morneau today concluded his participation in the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where Ministers met to discuss the future of work, the importance of infrastructure, as well as their ongoing efforts to combat tax evasion and avoidance.

In addition to these priorities, throughout the meetings, Minister Morneau continued the ongoing dialogue with his ministerial counterparts on the importance of lowering tariffs and supporting freer trade as a way for countries around the world to create good, well-paying jobs for the middle class. Minister Morneau will be joining Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland and Minister of International Trade Diversification Jim Carr in Mexico City on July 25 to continue to work toward securing a North American Free Trade Agreement that is in the interest of Canadians.

Minister Morneau also emphasized that the benefits that flow from addressing shared priorities must be widely shared, both to strengthen and grow the middle class, and to offer real help to people working hard to join it. In keeping with this objective, Finance Minister Bill Morneau today announced that the Government of Canada is investing up to $16.8 million in the global Knowledge Sharing Platform for Tax Administrations, to help better equip countries to deal with the global challenge of international tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance.

Since 2016, under the leadership of National Revenue Minister Diane Lebouthillier, the Canada Revenue Agency has been working with its international counterparts to develop an online global prototype platform to help developing countries increase their knowledge and expertise when it comes to tax administration. When completed, the Knowledge Sharing Platform will provide governments around the world with access to virtual classrooms, networks of experienced tax administrators, and a growing library of global best practices.

The Knowledge Sharing Platform will complement other international tax cooperation efforts, including:

  • the Platform for Collaboration on Tax, a joint effort by the International Monetary Fund, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the United Nations, and the World Bank Group to intensify cooperation among these organizations on tax issues;
  • the OECD's Common Reporting Standard, under which jurisdictions automatically exchange information on financial accounts held by non-residents, which can be used to better ensure compliance, and is used in the course of conducting investigations into international tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance; and 
  • commitments by more than 100 countries and jurisdictions to collaborate on the implementation of the OECD/G20 Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Package.

Quotes

"As the International Monetary Fund recently noted, the Government of Canada's investments are helping to create jobs and growth for Canadians. Canada has an important role to play, along with partners at home and around the world in building a global economy that works for everyone. Fighting international tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance is part of that effort. The global Knowledge Sharing Platform for Tax Administrations will help us to achieve this goal, and Canada is proud to support the Platform and its users."

- Bill Morneau, Minister of Finance

"Cooperation among tax administrations is critical to improving the fairness of the global tax system. The Knowledge Sharing Platform for Tax Administrations will be an important tool to support international efforts to enhance tax administration in developing countries, and level the playing field for taxpayers throughout the world."

- Diane Lebouthillier, Minister of National Revenue

Quick facts

  • The prototype of the Knowledge Sharing Platform is already proving effective, offering support to more than 2,400 tax officials and representatives from international organizations located in 140 countries.

  • In addition to Canada, several countries – including G20 members such as Australia, France, the United States of America, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom – are participating in the Knowledge Sharing Platform, alongside other international organizations that include G20 countries in their membership. These include the OECD, International Tax Compact, Inter-American Center of Tax Administrations, Centre de Rencontres et d'Études des Dirigeants des Administrations Fiscales, the Commonwealth Association of Tax Administrators, Pacific Islands Tax Administrators Association, Intra-European Organisation of Tax Administrations, and the World Bank. Other countries and organizations have also expressed an interest in joining the initiative. 

  • The Knowledge Sharing Platform complements and enhances traditional methods of assisting developing countries, providing broader and more timely access to expertise. 

  • At their meeting in Whistler, British Columbia in June 2018, G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors discussed the importance of fostering international tax fairness, and endorsed the ongoing work to develop the Knowledge Sharing Platform.

  • By helping to mobilize domestic resources, improve governance, and assist in global efforts to combat international tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance, the Knowledge Sharing Platform is advancing the goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Addis Tax Initiative, and the G20 tax agenda.

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Contacts

Media may contact:

Pierre-Olivier Herbert 
Press Secretary 
Office of the Minister of Finance
pierre-olivier.herbert@canada.ca 
613-369-5696

Media Relations
Department of Finance Canada
fin.media-media.fin@canada.ca
613-369-4000

General Enquiries

Phone: 613-369-3710
Facsimile: 613-369-4065
TTY: 613-369-3230
E-mail: fin.financepublic-financepublique.fin@canada.ca

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