Antilles sign tax treaty with Mexico and Canada

September 01, 2009 12:37 PM

The Antilles signed the tax treaty with Mexico today in Mexico-City. State Secretary Alex Rosaria (Finance, PNP) signed for the Antilles and Minister Augustin Carstens (Finance) for Mexico. Last Saturday, the Antilleans signed a Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEA) with Canada.

After the signing of the tax treaty in Mexico City, Rosaria participated in a seminar on tax affairs. The treaty and seminar are both instruments through which the Antilles continue to recommend their modern, transparent international financial services on the world market.

These tax treaties offer the opportunity to exchange data to prevent illegal transactions such as tax frauds, laundering of money from criminal activities, or financing of terrorism.

In the field of legal transactions, these treaties offer tax exemption on income from active business by foreign companies registered in the Antilles with a parent company in f.e. Canada.

It is the first time that Canada has signed a TIEA. This North American country is planning to sign TIEA’s with the Isle of Man, Aruba, and Antigua & Barbuda as well in the coming months.
State Secretary Alex Rosaria stated that by signing this TIEA, the Netherlands Antilles emphasize their commitment with regard to the compliance of international valid standards. This guarantees the integrity and stability of the financial markets and protects clients using the services of the Antillean international financial sector (IFS).
According to Rosaria, our IFS should anticipate the possibilities, which this treaty offers, as soon as possible. With relation to this he held meetings with tax consultants from Canada together with IFS representatives of Curaçao to find the underlying economical possibilities offered by this treaty. These opportunities should lead to more investments, more employment, and more revenues for our IFS. In addition, it is important to cooperate with other countries in fighting against criminal activities, which could occur in this international operating sector.

The treaty will become effective after both parties have informed each other through the diplomatic channels that all conditions have been complied with for the implementation. The Canadian and the Antillean conditions are different. The signed treaty will be submitted to the Antillean Council of State for advice. The treaty will then be presented to the Upper and Lower Chamber and the States of the Netherlands Antilles.
The intended dismantlement of the Antilles does not have any consequences for the status of treaties concluded by the Antilles. The international-legal obligations resulting from these treaties will be transferred to the new, self-governing countries St. Maarten and Curaçao (as well as the Netherlands with regard to the countries resorting under Dutch public bodies, Bonaire, St. Eustatius, and Saba).

(Source: National Newspaper Amigoe)

September 1, 2009

Treaties that have been signed by the State Secretary of Finance:

- TIEA Netherlands Antilles and Mexico
- TIEA Netherlands Antilles and Canada
- TIEA Netherlands Antilles and Australia
- Australia - Netherlands Antilles signed MOU
- TIEA Netherlands Antilles and New Zealand
- Verdrag t.b.v. Nederlandse Antillen, met Australië, m.b.t. uitwisseling inlichtingen belastingen; Canberra, 1-3-2007
- Verdrag Nederlandse Antillen en Nieuw-Zeeland inzake uitwisseling inlichtingen m.b.t. belastingen; 1-3-2007
- Verdrag Nederland en Republiek ten Oosten vd Uruguay inzake administratieve bijstand t.b.v. douanewetgeving; 22-2-2007