AS the March 31 deadline for regional territories to sign tax information exchange agreements (TIEAs) draws close, the Federation has signed an agreement with Australia, leaving two more TIEAs to meet the minimum requirement.
This brings to 10 the total number of TIEAs signed by the Federation in an attempt to graduate from the gray list of “secretive tax havens” set down by the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), according to SKNVibes.
The signing was done by St. Kitts-Nevis Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas and Australia’s Non-Resident High Commissioner to St. Kitts-Nevis, His Excellency Philip Kentwell.
In commenting on the recent signing, PM Douglas said that his government has “done everything that we could do” to comply with the international standards of accountability and transparency of the nation’s offshore business.
According to a recent press statement released by the Communications Unit in the Office of the Prime Minister (CUOPM), Australia’s Ambassador Kentwell congratulated the local government for its progress in working to meet the OECD deadline.
“As we appreciate, the whole financial services industry is one which we need to ensure is managed carefully to encourage confidence and this agreement between our two countries is going to further strengthen the relationship that we already enjoy,” the Australian official said.