BRADES, Montserrat – Montserrat is one step closer to meeting the March 2010 deadline to sign tax information exchange agreements with the members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
On Thursday, Chief Minister Reuben Meade and the Pim Waldeck, The Netherlands Ambassador to the UK signed the bilateral tax information exchange agreement. This follows Wednesday signing of the amendment of the double taxation agreement between the UK and Montserrat.
According to Violet Silcott, Comptroller at Inland Revenue the double taxation agreement with the UK was an amendment to the original arrangement, which was necessary to meet the OECD requirement to include an exchange of information clause.
She explained that in 2002, the then chief minister John A. Osbourne had signed a letter of exchange stating Montserrat’s intention to become more transparent in its tax system. “By March 2010, the OECD has mandated that we have signed off on 12 exchange agreements with member countries,” Silcott added.
In 2001, Montserrat was blacklisted by the OECD as a tax haven because there was no mechanism for sharing tax information with the UK and other member states.
ENDS
