BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, May 28. 2018 – WITH St. Kitts and Nevis being removed from the European Union’s blacklist as a non-cooperative jurisdiction, the federation’s government says that it was done through its commitment to good governance principles.
St. Kitts and Nevis, among several other jurisdictions were placed on the blacklist as non-compliant countries back in March.
The removal, which took effect on Friday May 25, 2018, also saw Caribbean member states, the Bahamas, be removed.
In a statement published today (May 28), the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis, said that the Economic and Financial Affairs (ECOFIN) Council’s Code of Conduct Group on Business Taxation decided that St. Kitts and Nevis should be moved from Annex I to Annex II (de-listed).
According to the government, Annex I is the EU’s list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes, whereas Annex II comprises jurisdictions that have made commitments to implement tax good governance principles.
Though St. Kitts and Nevis was removed from Annex I, it was placed on a gray list of jurisdictions with low tax transparency standards”
“St. Kitts and Nevis has committed to amend the relevant legislation to address the EU’s concerns regarding preferential tax regimes by the end of December 2018,” the government said.
It added, “The Federation remains committed to the implementation of the various international standards and has exhibited its commitment by joining the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD’s) Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Sharing (BEPS). The BEPS Inclusive Framework comprises over 100 jurisdictions that are collaborating on the implementation of the OECD/G20 anti-BEPS Package.”
The Package, SKNVibes understands, will tackle BEPS practices, which refer to tax avoidance strategies that involve artificially shifting profits to low- or no-tax locations.
Since the federation was placed on the EU blacklist, Prime Minister, Dr. Timothy Harris strongly criticized the move.
But according to the government, St. Kitts and Nevis has signed on with the OECD Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters, a move that was made by Dr. Timothy Harris.
They pointed out that he signed the Convention and deposited the Instrument of Ratification in August 2016.
“St. Kitts and Nevis also signed the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement to facilitate the automatic exchange of financial account information in accordance with the Common Reporting Standard (CRS).
“The Federation is a member of The Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes – the premier international body that ensures the implementation of the international standards on tax transparency – and is deemed by it to be “Largely Compliant,” the government added.
