The Seychelles has noted the signing of a Tax Information Exchange Agreement with
Guernsey as a significant step in boosting bilateral relations between the two
territories.
The agreement was signed at the Seychelles' High Commission in London, by Patrick
Pillay, the High Commissioner for the Seychelles to the United Kingdom and Guernsey
Chief Minister Lyndon Trott.
The Seychelles' government said the agreement represents the territory's commitment
to enforcing the OECD's Peer Review Report of 2010 to expand the nation's network
of bilateral agreements with third nations for the exchange of tax information
on request, and noted it would further strengthen the territory's appeal as
an international financial centre, and attract further foreign direct investment.
Pillay said: “[The Agreement] represents an important commitment for the future,
that we, as a small island developing state, are willing to make despite all
the challenges that we face, in order to achieve significant progress towards
better transparency and exchange of information.”
At the signing, Trott reiterated the same sentiments, stating that small jurisdictions
need to work slightly harder than bigger economies to be more transparent and
in the current economic downturn, the resulting transparency will make smaller
jurisdictions be seen not as part of the problem, but as part of the global
solution. It was also noted that Guernsey has a well-established financial services
sector, which is managed in a transparent manner through information-sharing
agreements.
Guernsey is the ninth jurisdiction with which Seychelles has signed a Tax Information
Exchange Agreement (TIEA).
The Seychelles' government said it is its priority to enter into comprehensive
conventions for the avoidance of double taxation that also provide tax information
sharing, to boost the Seychelles' appeal to international investors. However,
the territory said it is open to the conclusion of TIEAs in cases where the co-signatory
jurisdiction provides unilateral relief to residents in the absence of a DTA.
The Seychelles has comprehensive DTAs that meet the internationally-agreed
standard with Bahrain, Belgium, Mauritius, and with Monaco.
The territory also has OECD model tax information exchange agreements with
Netherlands, and the Nordic Group of territories, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland,
Iceland, the Faroe Islands and Greenland.
LAWANDTAX-NEWS.COM
