Brick and Tell: 26 Nations Sign On to Swap Offshore Property Data
The Big Picture
Real estate has long been a favourite hiding place for untaxed wealth,especially when the property sits thousands of miles from the owner’s home tax office. That veil is about to lift. Twenty-six jurisdictions just promised to adopt the OECD’s new “Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on the Exchange of Readily Available Information on Immovable Property.” The OECD says the framework will let tax authorities see who owns what, where, for how much, and how much income it’s throwing off,a move meant to “address long-standing gaps” in cross-border enforcement, the organisation stated in its announcement. For further context on global data sharing and transparency initiatives, readers may also find insights in Nigeria joins global data-sharing pact as tax shake-ups ripple across sectors.
The Details
• The agreement covers ownership details, property values and rental income for foreign-held real estate.
• Data will flow automatically between participating tax authorities, mirroring the mechanics of the Common Reporting Standard for bank accounts.
• Signatories range from traditional financial hubs to emerging markets, creating what the OECD calls “critical mass” for global transparency.
Why It Matters / What They’re Saying
The reaction was swift: transparency advocates cheered the pact as a “game-changer,” while advisers to high-net-worth clients are already gaming out disclosure obligations. Tax professionals note that property registries are often less mature than banking systems, so the ability to connect the dots on offshore bricks could open a fresh audit frontier.
Around the Tax World
• GMT gets real in Jakarta. At an IFA seminar, speakers warned Indonesian companies that the 15% global minimum tax will hit financial statements hard and urged closer auditor-tax consultant teamwork (MUC Consulting).
• Grounded by taxes? Airline executives told Nigeria’s government that a new industry tax regime could push carriers toward bankruptcy and asked for an urgent rethink (ThisDayLive). For those interested in understanding how similar shifts are affecting domestic policy, see our Introduction To Nigerian Tax Laws.
• Hungary rewrites its TP playbook. Budapest opened public consultation on transfer-pricing documentation rules designed to mirror OECD guidance and “simplify compliance” for taxpayers (International Tax Review).
• Trust but verify. A fresh OECD survey finds Asia leading the world in public confidence that tax systems are fair, while Europe and Latin America trail (OECD).
• Multinationals plot their GMT moves. Companies are testing everything from entity restructuring to green-energy investments to soften the blow of the 15% floor, according to Corporate Knights.
Tax Stat of the Day
26 , the number of jurisdictions that have already signed onto the offshore real-estate information-exchange pact, giving the framework an impressive launch pad.
Looking Ahead
OECD officials plan to open the real-estate agreement to additional signatories in early 2026, and advisers expect implementing legislation to follow quickly. Meanwhile, Hungary’s consultation window runs through year-end, setting the stage for final TP rules in Q1.