Barbados will avoid being on a list of uncooperative tax havens that will be published shortly by the OECD, following discussions between officials from the Caribbean island and the Paris-based group.
The OECD said that Barbados has transparent tax and regulatory systems, with mechanisms in place that enable it to engage in effective exchange of information. The country had been in negotiations with the OECD since the Organization's 2001 progress report was released listing 35 harmful tax havens, including Barbados.
A joint statement issued by the OECD and the government of Barbados said: "Barbados has long-standing information exchange arrangements with other countries, which are found by its treaty partners to operate in an effective manner.
"Barbados is also willing to enter into tax information exchange arrangements with those OECD member countries with which it does not have such arrangements. Barbados has in place established procedures with respect to transparency. Moreover, recent legislative changes made by Barbados have enhanced the transparency of its tax and regulatory rules."
However, Andrew Quinlan, president of the Washington DC-based Center for Freedom and Prosperity, said he believed that because Barbados has been removed without signing a letter of commitment, the work of the OECD has been weakened. "For the last 18 months, the OECD has said that the only way to get of the blacklist was to sign an MOU emasculating tax competition, financial privacy and fiscal sovereignty," he said. "In fact, Barbados did not sign an MOU."
The remaining nations on the list have until February 28 to commit to changing their tax regimes to be transparent and allow for effective exchange of information. Failing to do so could result in OECD member countries applying defensive measures against them.
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