To fight tax evasion 51 countries including the Netherlands, signed a multilateral competent authority agreement to automatically exchange information as this is seen as a key aspect in their fight against tax evasion. This agreement specifies the details of what information will be exchanged and when, as set out in the Standard as a key aspect of that co-operation is exchange of information.

Starting in 2012, political interest has increasingly focused on the opportunities provided by automatic exchange of information in their fight against tax evasion. Automatic exchange of information involves the systematic and periodic transmission of “bulk” taxpayer information by the source country to the residence country concerning various categories of income (e.g. dividends, interest, etc.). It can provide timely information on non-compliance where tax has been evaded either on an investment return or the underlying capital sum, even where tax administrations have had no previous indications of non-compliance.