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14 March 2003 Speaking at the recently concluded Barbados Financial Services Conference, UK tax expert, Marshall Langer warned that the jurisdiction remains on the tax blacklists of several individual countries, despite having secured removal from those of international organisations such as the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). |
Reporting on the conference, the Barbados Advocate revealed that Barbados remains 'blacklisted' by countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Lithuania, Mexico, Poland, Spain, and the Ukraine.
The Shutts & Bowen international tax consultant reportedly congratulated Barbados on escaping the OECD blacklisting, and noted that an effective way for the jurisdiction to secure removal from the individual lists would be to seek tax treaties with the countries in question.
''I would like to suggest that although Barbados has a good network of tax treaties, now some ten in force, I think that serious consideration should be given to increasing those tax treaties, particularly with some of these countries that have blacklisted Barbados,' he told delegates, continuing:
'One of the best ways to get off a blacklist is to negotiate successfully a tax treaty with the country that is blacklisting you. It is pretty standard for a country to take you off their blacklist when you have a tax treaty with them.'
Mr Langer went on to add, according to the Barbados Advocate report, that despite this, the future of the jurisdiction's financial services sector looks bright:
'I think we have to divide tax havens into two different types. There are those that cater to individuals who are trying to cheat their own country, and I think that somewhere between 2006 and 2010 those types of havens will be a dead issue.'
'On the other hand those tax havens or offshore financial centres that concentrate on getting the good clean business that Barbados prides itself on getting, there is a future that can develop over the coming years,' he explained.
