Last week I heard that the Spanish Tax authorities are not accepting life insurance wrappers registered in Luxembourg until there is an adequate exchange of bank information protocol for tax purposes between the two countries.
Posts Tagged ‘Double Tax Treaty’
Luxembourg and exchange of bank information
Monday, June 8th, 2009G20 ON TAX HAVENS
Sunday, April 5th, 2009Following the G20 meeting and communique , the OECD Secretariat has provided a detailed report on progress by financial centres around the world towards implementation of an internationally agreed standard on exchange of information for tax purposes.
ISLE OF MAN SIGNS TAX INFORMATION PACT WITH GERMANY
Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009The Isle of Man and Germany announced that they have signed a bilateral agreement for the exchange of information for tax purposes, bringing to 13 the number of such agreements entered into by the Isle of Man.
OECD, LIECHTENSTEIN AND GERMANY. IS THERE A PLACE FOR A SYNTHETIC APPROACH.
Tuesday, February 24th, 2009AUSTRALIA AND ISLE OF MAN TAX AGREEMENT SIGNED
Sunday, February 1st, 2009The OECD announces that on 29/01/09 Australia and the Isle of Man have signed a Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA).
GIBRALTAR TAX REGIME .- NEW FAVOURABLE EC COURT RULE
Friday, December 19th, 2008We welcome the EC Court of Justice ruling against the European Commission argumenting that Gibraltar’s corporate tax reform constitutes illegal state aid.
The Judgement from the Eight Chamber of the Court of First Instance says: “It follows from all of the foregoing that the Commission has not established the existence of selective advantages stemming from the three aspects of the tax reform that are at issue. Therefore, by classifying those aspects as State aid, the Commission made an error of law in the application of Article 87(1) EC.”
As reported by Down Jones Deutschland, ” Gibraltar’s tax regime must be considered as Gibraltar’s only and not as a part of the UK.’s, the Court of First Instance said. The court ruling means Gibraltar won’t have to match UK. tax rates and it won’t lose the fiscal independence that is key to its ability to attract businesses seeking favorable tax treatment within a sovereign British territory.
The commission investigated the Gibraltar tax reforms after the UK notified it in 2002 of Gibraltar’s plans. Gibraltar is seen as part of the UK for the purposes of EU membership.
The reform aimed to abolish the 35% corporate tax rate and replace it with payroll tax and a business property occupation tax – both capped at 15% of profit. This, the commission said in a 2004 statement, meant “offshore companies with no physical presence in Gibraltar won’t incur any tax liability at all.”
The commission found the tax reform violated EU state aid rules as it resulted in a lower corporate tax rate (15%) for Gibraltar companies than for UK. companies and favored certain sectors over others.”
LIECHTENSTEIN AND US TAX COOPERATION. IS SPAIN FOLLOWING THE OECD TREND?
Saturday, December 13th, 2008The US and Liechtenstein signed an agreement for the exchange of information on tax matters.
According the International Tax Review “The US government is leading the way on expanding information exchange,” said Jesse Eggert, attorney adviser at the US Department of Treasury. “This is a comprehensive information exchange which pierces bank secrecy.”
This is another encouraging step toward a more transparent economy. The move is particularly welcomed as Liechtenstein is not included in the list of OECD cooperative jurisdictions .
We look forward to see the Spanish government moving in this direction instead of pursuing an inquisitional approach to offshore jurisdictions, as reflected by the infamous RD 1080/1991, a 17th years old Statute, still in force, criminalizing MOST offshore jurisdiction. It is very unfortunate that the Spanish government is neglecting to consider the OECD position, by accepting that 35 Jurisdictions are complying or planning to comply with the international rules for information exchange. We would like to see a change of approach.
Meanwhile, from Tax Precision we continue advocating for all the OECD countries to increase the network of bilateral tax agreements and information exchange protocols with cooperative offshore jurisdictions, and beyond. We believe this is a much efficient and effective approach to fight tax evasion.
FIRST ELECTRONIC APOSTILLE ( E-APOSTILLE) IN EUROPE
Saturday, December 13th, 2008The web page of The Hague Conference on Private International Law reports the very good news.- the issuing of the first Electronic Apostille in Europe!.
For those of us working with international documentation and deeds, this comes as a breeze of fresh air, which we look forward to further development.
The Hague Conference web page reports:
“The Superior Court of Murcia (Spain) recently issued the first electronic Apostille (e-Apostille) in Europe.
This Apostille, issued within the framework of an international adoption procedure, is perfectly consistent with the model proposed under the e-APP. Please click here to read the press release from the Superior Court of Murcia.”