Tax
Dutch Antilles Government Hits Out at Tax Haven Tag
The government of the Dutch Antilles has fiercely criticised
attempts to label it as a haven for tax cheats, according to
documents sent by the small
Caribbean islands to the European Commission, media reports said.
The statements were made in a document that was sent by the State
Secretary of Finance of the
Netherlands Antilles, Alex Rosaria, to the Tax Directorate
of the EC and is a follow-up to a meeting between Mr Rosaria and
representatives of the EC earlier this year.
Mr Rosaria said the
Netherlands Antilles is committed to providing a leading edge
financial service industry with high-end supervision in line with
international standards to protect the consumer.
“We are an active and a complying member of various international organisations such as the OECD, the Egmont Group, the Financial Action Task Force and the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force”, Mr Rosaria was quoted as saying.
The
Netherlands Antilles is recognised by the OECD as a co-operative
jurisdiction. In April 2008 the Egmont Group gave the Netherlands
Antilles its seal of approval and the International Monetary Fund
in its most recent Article IV Consultations concluded that “The
financial sector of the
Netherlands Antilles is broadly healthy”.
“Any reference to us being a tax haven is totally misguided,
contradictory and unjust. If we were a tax haven
Spain would not have concluded a Tax Information Exchange Treaty
with us in June 2008”, Mr Rosaria said.
