Panama moves away from tax havens

julio 29, 2016 4:07 pm Publicado por 6.659 Comentarios

 

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The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is developing a new list of tax havens or territories uncooperative in tax matters to be published in July 2017 and which aims not appear Panama.

To determine whether a country is considered cooperative or uncooperative, the body will use three criteria: the implementation of information exchange requirements, commitment to sending bank information automatically from 2018 and the signing of the multilateral convention mutual administrative assistance in tax matters.

In addition, countries must have a positive rating in Phase II of peer review, which analyzes the implementation of information exchange. Otherwise, they appear as non-cooperative.

Panama is committed to the automatic exchange of information from 2018 and asked to sign the multilateral convention. It is also in the process of evaluation of phase II of the peer review. If the rating is negative, you will have until July 2017 to make corrections and avoid the list.

MARK OECD standards of transparency

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has established three criteria for determining whether a country is cooperating or not in fiscal transparency.

At a meeting of G20 -forum that brings together the world’s most industrialized countries and a group of emerging held last weekend in Chengdu, China, secretary general of the OECD presented the criteria.

Countries will be measured in accordance with the level of implementation of the exchange of information upon request as revisions to the Global Forum on Transparency; by commitment to the adoption of information exchange automatically according to the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) of the OECD; and adherence to the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters (MAC, for its acronym in English).

The territories must meet two of three criteria to be classified as cooperators, and should also have a good rating in the Global Forum peer review.

Panama has already announced its commitment to the automatic exchange from 2018, also informed the OECD its intention to sign the multilateral convention and is in Phase II of peer review, which measures the effective implementation of information exchange.

Gian Castillero, advisor to the Foreign Ministry of Panama, explained that it was established that it would be automatically considered as part of the list of non-cooperative country have rated «noncompliant» in its evaluation of Phase II, whether they have fulfilled the other two criteria.

«Panama hopes that its assessment is ‘partially dutiful’. If not, would have until July 2017 to improve its evaluation, «said Castillero.

That same month is expected that the OECD published the new list of tax havens and non-cooperative countries, a relationship in which Panama does not want to be, especially after the publication last April of a global investigation into the law firm Mossack Fonseca, who revealed the alleged use of offshore companies by politicians, athletes and entrepreneurs from around the world to hide their assets to the tax authorities of their countries.

The Secretary General of the ODCE, Angel Gurria, said in the report presented to the G20 he was «delighted to announce that it received a letter from the Vice President of Panama formally requesting an invitation to sign the multilateral convention, after its ratification, will allow them better implement its commitments to exchange information upon request and automatic exchange of financial information. «

The Global Forum vote on the request for Panama, and if all members agree, would send the country an invitation to join this convention that, in practical terms, extend to about 100 the network of countries that may request information from Panama.

Colombia is one of the signatories of the convention, therefore, the neighbor, the origin of the largest number of foreign deposits in the banking center of Panama country, and would have a mechanism to request information from Panama, regardless of the bilateral agreement being trading between countries and that has not been finalized by a request from Panama to Colombia will not accept.

According Castillero, although the multilateral convention may exchange information upon request with Colombia, the bilateral agreement established the basis for future negotiation of an agreement on automatic exchange, provided that Colombia fulfill certain conditions, such as ensuring the confidentiality of the information. If finally the bilateral agreement is not sealed, do not chart the path for future automatic exchange.

According to the Superintendency of Banks of Panama, in the banking center it is $ 6.068 million in deposits from Colombia. However, the figure could be higher, since there are also cases where the account holder is a Panamanian company, but the beneficiary is a person of Colombian origin.

Source: http://www.prensa.com/

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