Facing the proposal of the authorities to abolish the banking secrecy in the country, businessmen of the industrial sector are opposed, because they argue that there are already legal procedures in the country to do it through a judge.
At a press conference on February 11, Finance Minister Rodrigo Chaves defended the proposal to access sensitive information from taxpayers and said that by lifting banking secrecy they were seeking to tackle tax evasion.
As a result of the elimination of banking secrecy in Guatemala, the business sector announces that it will be alert to "respect due process and the confidentiality of taxpayers.
One year after having suspended access to taxpayers' bank information for fiscal purposes, at the beginning of August the Constitutional Court ruled definitively and revoked the suspension, so that in the coming weeks the changes will begin to apply.
Experts and authorities believe that the ruling by the Guatemalan Constitutional Court revoking the suspension preventing access to taxpayers' bank information for fiscal purposes could be reversed with another legal action.
In recent days, the issue has become more relevant in the country, because after a year of being suspended access to banking information for tax purposes, on August 6 the Constitutional Court finally ruled, authorizing the Superintendence of Tax Administration (SAT) to review the accounts of taxpayers.
One year after the suspension of taxpayers' access to bank information for tax purposes, the Guatemalan Constitutional Court ruled definitively and revoked the suspension.
Arguing that it does not comply with the standards on transparency and exchange of information for tax purposes, the OECD evaluated Guatemala negatively and recommended working on direct access to taxpayers' banking information.
As planned, following the temporary suspension by the Constitutional Court (CC) of the article of law facilitating access to taxpayers' bank information, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) decided to include Guatemala in the list of countries that do not comply with their fiscal information commitments.
From May 2019, foreign customers will have to declare to local system banks that their funds meet their country's tax requirements.
The Superintendence of Banks of Panama (SBP) approved Agreement 02-2019, which implements the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force, which consists of expanding the required due diligence measures of banks with their customers.
The Tax Authority is considering using this new tool in its audit plan for 2017.
From a statement issued by Tezó & Associates:
THE LIFTING OF BANK SECRECY IS A FISCAL TOOL THAT THE SAT WILL MAKE USE OF IN 2017
As mentioned in our Tax Memo Number 11-16, the lifting of "Bank Secrecy" will start from February 27, 2017, consisting of the SAT being able to require from the following entities: Banks, Finance Companies, Credit and Savings Cooperatives, and Microfinance and Nonprofit Institutions: information on bank transactions, transfers, investments, available assets or other transactions and services performed by any individual or legal person, entity or assets.The SAT will request such information in cases where there is reasonable doubt about activities or operations that warrant an investigation process.The aim of lifting Bank Secrecy is for the SAT to make use of a fiscal took to check whether all of an individual or legal entity's income, be they registered or not as a taxpayer, has paid the taxes on it.
In February a law comes into force authorizing the lifting of bank secrecy of companies and individuals with a court order at the request of tax authorities.
Banks are preparing for the entry into force of legislation in February, modifying their processes in order to respond more quickly to requests from the Superintendency of Tax Administration (SAT).
The pressure being put on Panama in the international context has finally forced it to make agreements to exchange tax information, with the most noteworthy being the agreement with Colombia because of the negative implications it has for the Panamanian banking sector.
Prensa.com reports that "...According to the Superintendency of Banks of Panama, at the end of 2015, deposits in the international banking center of Panama from Colombia totaled $6.251 billion, with the South American country being the main center for funds originating from foreign sources. "
Thirteen foreign banks with operations in New York will have to report on their relations with the Panamanian firm Mossack Fonseca including communications, telephone records and any transaction made.
An article on Bloomberg reported that the Department of Financial Services (DFS) in New York has asked 13 banks with offices in that State, among which are Deutsche Bank AG, Credit Suisse Group AG, Commerzbank AG, ABN Amro Group NV and Societe Generale SA, to provide communications, telephone records and other records of transactions, between their branches in New York and employees or agents of the law firm, Mossack Fonseca & Co. The banks in question are not accused of any wrongdoing.
During the ministerial meeting of the G20, Panama presented an initiative to develop the country's own model of automatic exchange of information.
From a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry of Panama:
The Republic of Panama invites the G20 to recognize the intention of the government headed by President Juan Carlos Varela, to design its own model of automatic information exchange, without this leading to adverse measures, based on the sovereign right of each country to adopt the position that is most in harmony with reality, even if that position does not accompany that of most jurisdictions.
Confirmation has been given that the country is to be removed from the list compiled by the Financial Action Task Fprce a year and a half after adjusting laws and regulations for the financial sector.
The Minister of Economy and Finance in Panama, Dulcidio De La Guardia, confirmed that the removal of Panama from the gray list was approved during the plenary session of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) held on Thursday February 18 in Paris, France.
This new list of tax havens is a collection of countries considered as such in at least 10 member countries of the European Union.
Despite some steps taken to establish international agreements on tax information and the adoption of other measures to avoid being considered a tax haven, Panama has been included in the list of 30 non-cooperative countries or territories on these issues by the European Commission.
The new head of the Superintendency of Banks intends to resume the discussion in Congress of a bill which would regulate banking secrecy in the country by way of tax audits.
With the aim of improving tax controls, the Superintendency of Banks (SIB) seeks to reform national legislation for the regulation of banking secrecy in order to access "... Banking information of taxpayers, under guarantees of confidentiality."