Spain removes Barbados from blacklist

FOLLOWING A PROTEST from the Ministry of International Business, Spain has removed Barbados from its tax blacklist.

This latest development comes after a recent decision was taken by members of the European Union to blacklist this country for being a non-cooperative tax jurisdiction.

International Business Minister, Donville Inniss, praised the move, and said it was his hope that other countries would follow suit.

“Barbados currently has 34 Double Taxation Agreements (DTA) and this to my mind adds great value to our International Business Sector. Also, we are expecting a DTA with Italy, and over the next few weeks, formal negotiations on a tax treaty with Cyprus will commence in London, England,” he disclosed.

The Minister added that a team from Barbados would be heading to London to oversee the negotiation process, and it would include the Deputy Director of International Business, Robert Folkes; a senior official from the Barbados Revenue Authority; and an International Business consultant based in London.

Inniss further indicated that bilateral discussions with those countries which still have Barbados on their lists are ongoing. He noted that the countries were sent diplomatic notes to ensure they were aware of the errors in their listing; to formalise tax treaty relations with them; and, more importantly, to endeavour to have this island removed from those lists.

The countries include Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal and Slovenia. (BGIS)