Finance Minister Colm Imbert arrived in Paris on Wednesday as the Trinidad and Tobago government moves to have the country removed from the European Union tax blacklist.
Imbert told a virtual news conference that he will be signing the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters that was developed jointly by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the Council of Europe.
“So for the last several years we have asked the OECD, which is where the Global Forum is located, the global forum is a department within the OECD in Paris, to allow us to sign this treaty because once you sign this treaty, then you can have tax sharing arrangements with all of the countries that are members of that.
“They have not allowed us to sign this before because they said we were not ready as our laws were not up to standard,” Imbert told reporters adding that he will also visit the EU headquarters in Brussel on Thursday to request that Trinidad and Tobago be moved from the blacklist to a “grey list” which recognises that progress is being made.
“The EU has two lists. A black list which is the more severe one, and the grey list which recognise that you are making progress towards coming off the list and then you come completely off the list.
“So I am going to EU headquarters in Brussels the following day to meet with EU officials to show them I have just signed the treaty with the global forum and we would now like to be put on the EU grey list which again will be significant progress,” he told reporters.
Last month, the European Union removed Antigua and Barbuda from its list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes, but kept Trinidad and Tobago and Anguilla on that list describing them as countries that do not cooperate with the EU or have not fully met their commitments.
“The Council regrets that these jurisdictions are not yet cooperative on tax matters and invites them to improve their legal framework in order to resolve the identified issues,” the European Council in a statement announcing Antigua and Barbuda’s removal.
Apart from Antigua and Barbuda, the other Caribbean countries deemed to be cooperative for tax purposes are The Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and the Turks and Caicos Islands
The EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes was established in December 2017. It is part of the EU’s external strategy on taxation and aims to contribute to ongoing efforts to promote tax good governance worldwide.
Jurisdictions are assessed on the basis of a set of criteria laid down by the Council. These criteria cover tax transparency, fair taxation and implementation of international standards designed to prevent tax base erosion and profit shifting.
Port of Spain said then it has developed a strategy to address the country’s removal from on the EU list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions.
Imbert delivering the 2025 national budget, said that the government is maintaining ongoing dialogue with the OECD Global Forum and the EU on this matter and that ensuring compliance with the European Union’s criteria for noncooperative tax jurisdictions is vital for Trinidad and Tobago to uphold its global standing and maintain access to international markets and financial systems.
“Adhering to these standards helps us avoid sanctions and penalties that could undermine trade relations, foreign investment and overall economic stability,” he told legislators.
Source-CMC
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