Singapore's parliament on Monday passed a bill that will bring the city-state's tax law in line with the international standard set by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to fight tax evasion across borders.
Singapore had been under international pressure to improve banking transparency and had been put on a "grey list" by OECD as a state committed to the international standard on sharing information on taxes but not yet substantially implementing it.
The amendments now passed by the legislators "will allow Singapore to implement the new internationally agreed standard," said Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam.
"The changes we are enacting are fully in keeping with Singapore's status and reputation as a trusted and responsible business and financial hub committed to the international efforts to combat cross-border tax evasion," he said. According to the new tax bill, the government could ask banks for client information in potential cases of foreign tax evasion, while the old law was restricted to domestic tax cases.
So far, Singapore had formally signed amended tax agreements which include the OECD standard with 11 countries, said Tharman. To get on OECD's "white list," governments have to sign 12 bilateral tax agreements in line with the standard of tax information. OECD has drawn up black, grey and white lists of countries based on their willingness to adhere to its standards.
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