Netherlands Confirms Tax Treaty Negotiation Priorities
The Netherlands will seek to resume discussions towards double taxation avoidance treaties with several countries in 2018, including the United States, the Government has said.
The Dutch Government will attempt to begin tax treaty talks with at least seven countries this year, including Australia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Morocco, Austria, and Portugal, according to an update on the Dutch tax treaty negotiation program, issued by the Ministry of Finance on January 26.
In addition, the Netherlands will continue discussions for new or updated treaties with several other jurisdictions, including, among others, Andorra, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, France, Liechtenstein, Mozambique, Uganda, Pakistan, Senegal, Sri Lanka, and possibly the United States.
Recently, the Netherlands has concentrated on agreeing new or updated treaties with developing countries as part of a plan to prevent tax treaty abuse. Treaties have been negotiated or renegotiated with 23 developing countries, the ministry said.
However, the tax treaty negotiations with Uganda, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan will mark an end to this developing country strategy, the Ministry added.
The statement also confirmed that the BEPS multilateral instrument, signed by the Netherlands on June 7, 2017, was submitted to the House of Representatives on December 20 last year.
The instrument, developed through negotiations involving more than 100 countries and jurisdictions, is intended to enable countries to incorporate BEPS-related amendments to their tax treaties without having to renegotiate bilateral treaties on a piecemeal basis.
