Cayman and the BVI Make the White List
Friday, 14th August saw the Cayman Islands and the British Virgin Islands moving up the OECD’s list to attain White List status in the category of ‘Jurisdictions that have substantially implemented the internationally agreed tax standard’ following their signing of a TIEA with New Zealand.
Jeffrey Owens, Director of the OECD’s Centre for Tax Policy and Administration, welcomed the signing: “Today the British Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands take their place alongside other countries that have substantially implemented the internationally agreed tax standard. Six jurisdictions have moved into this category since April. We look forward to working further with the British Virgin Islands and Cayman Islands as they extend their network of agreements and work to swiftly and effectively implement them.”
The Cayman government is in advanced stages of negotiating additional TIEAs with Italy, Mexico, Germany, France, Australia, Portugal and Canada. Cayman has also enacted legislation and developed a mechanism that allows it to exchange tax information unilaterally with other countries.
The BVI has agreements with the United Kingdom, in addition to the US, Australia, France and the Nordic group of countries including Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. Furthermore, all members of the OECD have been approached and the BVI aims to conclude more agreements over the coming months. The BVI hope to sign a further agreement with the Netherlands in the next few months.
More progress has been made in the last few months than over the last ten years. The momentum for change has not slowed and the next meeting of the OECD’s Global Forum In Mexico on the 1st and 2nd September should bring about further developments, hopefully implementing a system to monitor that countries continue to progress although some countries fear that the OECD might move the goal posts at this point.
Topics: BVI Cayman Islands OECD Tax Tax Standards
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