The Netherlands Antilles and Canada reportedly have concluded talks on a tax information exchange agreement (TIEA).
Netherland Antilles State Secretary for Finance Alex Rosaria believes that the TIEA will strengthen links that date back many centuries. *”It promotes Canadian investments and will also serve as an excellent instrument to combat tax fraud, money laundering and financing of terrorism,”* he was quoted as observing.
Earlier this month, The Netherlands Antilles expanded its network of international tax agreements with the signing of a tax information exchange agreement (TIEA) with Spain. * “With the signing of these TIEAs, we are making important steps forward in our efforts to strengthen our international financial sector,”* said State Secretary Rosaria.
The Netherlands Antilles currently has TIEAs with Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Spain and the USA. It has announced plans to sign conventions with Mexico, Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Sweden, Greenland and the Faroe Islands.
The Government announced earlier this year that its tax treaty policy would see some changes during 2008; specifically, to become focused more on treaties to avoid double taxation — that is, Double Taxation Agreements (DTA).
State Secretary Alex Rosaria said, *”The importance of TIEAs is the positive positioning of the Netherlands Antilles. These agreements confirm the Netherlands Antilles’ commitment to high international standards and its stature as a responsible international financial center.”* He added, however, that *”Although of vital importance, TIEAs do not particularly bring about new economic activities for the international financial services sector. DTAs, on the other hand, do contribute to economic activity because they focus on stimulating investments.”*
At that time he also pointed out that *“The sector agrees with me that the ‘beef’ is to be had in DTAs. I expect that we can this year negotiate DTAs with Mexico, Spain, Suriname, the United Arabic Emirates and Colombia.”*