The Model Mandatory Disclosure Rules for CRS Avoidance Arrangements and Opaque Offshore Structures contained in the referenced report were approved by the Committee of Fiscal Affairs (CFA) on 8 March 2018. These represent Best Practices.
15 July 2014 the OECD published the Standard for Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information in Tax Matters, also known as the Common Reporting Standard or CRS. Since then 102 jurisdictions have committed to its implementation in time to commence exchanges in 2017 or 2018.
The report includes CRS disclosure rules and related penalty requirements.
One of the most discussed aspects of the new report is the following:
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Rule 2.7: Disclosure of Arrangements entered into after 29 October 2014 and
before the effective date of these rules
- (a) A Promoter shall disclose a CRS Avoidance Arrangement within 180 days of the effective date of these rules where:
- (i) that Arrangement was implemented on or after 29 October 2014 but before the effective date of these rules; and
- (ii) that person was a Promoter in respect of that Arrangement;
irrespective of whether that person provides Relevant Services in respect of that Arrangement after the effective date.
- (a) A Promoter shall disclose a CRS Avoidance Arrangement within 180 days of the effective date of these rules where:
Most importantly, “jurisdictions implementing these model rules would need to take into account domestic specificities in their own CRS Legislation and the interaction of these model rules with existing anti-avoidance rules.”
The hallmark for a CRS Avoidance Arrangement captures any Arrangement where it is reasonable to conclude that it has been designed to circumvent, or has been marketed as or has the effect of circumventing CRS Legislation.
To the extent such rules may be applicable, this new report should be reviewed in its entirety to understand potential disclosure requirements in a timely manner.
Strategizing Multinational Tax Risks 
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