The agreement for Panama not to feature in Colombia's gray list establishes a deadline of one year for the signing of an agreement on double taxation and exchange of financial information, and is a sign that sooner rather than later, the Panamanian corporate and financial center will lose their comparative advantages.
EDITORIAL
International pressure to establish a comprehensive and transparent flow of tax information, continuously increases with the OECD as a powerful locomotive, and puts up against the wall countries such as Panama where for many years international financial centers have existed with specialized services which attract corporate finance companies from around the globe with tax benefits and opacity in related information.
The governments of Panama and Israel have signed a treaty to avoid double taxation.
A statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reads:
Panama and Israel sign Treaty to Avoid Double Taxation
Thursday, November 8, 2012
The Deputy Foreign Minister, Francisco Alvarez de Soto, who is on an official visit to the State of Israel, emphasized that holding the first session of political consultations and the signing of a treaty to avoid double taxation, represent relevant bilateral achievements.
The Cabinet Council is supporting a bill to approve an Agreement between the Republic of Panama and the Czech Republic for the avoidance of double taxation and to prevent tax evasion with respect to taxes on income and its protocol.
From a press release from the Presidency of Panama:
Cabinet approves agreement for double taxation and preventing tax evasion number 14
For the first six months of the year negotiations have been planned with Germany, the UAE and Hungary.
A press release from the Ministry of Economy and Finance reads:
The Panamanian government will continue to expand its network of tax treaties, despite already having the twelve treaties required by the OECD, reported by the Minister of Economy and Finance, Frank De Lima, who announced that for the first semester negotiations are planned with Germany, the UAE and Hungary.
Before April 2012 the country will negotiate double taxation agreements with the UAE and Hungary.
The announcement was made by the Minister of Economy and Finance, Frank de Lima, during the opening of the new ordinary session of the Legislature.
"The head of the Ministry of Economy and Finance stressed the importance of the ratification by the French legislature of the double taxation agreement with Panama signed last December and its departure from the "gray list " collated by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). He said that the move by France means that later this month, when France makes its list of countries with uncooperative tax policies, Panama should be left out of this category", reported Prensa.com.
In light of the decision by the Finance Committee of the French Senate, the Panamanian Presidency has issued a statement:
On the morning of Wednesday, December 14, the Government of Panama received a visit by Mr. Damien Loras, special envoy of President Nicolas Sarkozy, who confirmed France’s commitment to approving the Double Taxation Treaty with Panama in order to remove our country from the French list of countries not cooperating in the exchange of tax information.
The French government has approved a bill to formalize the double taxation agreement with Panama.
The French government issued a statement after the Council of Ministers meeting which says, "The French government today approved the bill to formalize the agreement on double taxation with Panama, whose final adoption should allow the Central American country to be removed from the French list of tax havens."
If Panama does not efficiently and effectively provide the information required by foreign authorities, it will worsen the current perception of non-cooperation.
An analysis of this thorny issue made by Carlos Barsallo, president of the National Securities Commission, makes clear that since 1949, the adoption of Act 62 of 1938, Resolution 38 October 1949 and the reform of the Tax Code 1957 and subsequent regulations, have the clear purpose of turning Panama into an offshore financial services center (commonly known as a tax haven).
Both countries have agreed to start meetings in Panama, in order to sign a Double Taxation Treaty.
A press release from Panama’s Ministry of Economy and Finance states:
Following a visit by the Minister of Economy and Finance, Frank De Lima, to Britain, and also his meeting with David Hartnett of HM Revenue and Customs, both officials have agreed to start meetings in Panama, with the view to signing a Double Taxation Treaty .
The Panama Banking Association has asked the government to respond to statements made by the French president and claim compensation for damage caused to the country.
Mario de Diego, executive vice president of the Panama Banking Association (ABP), said that if the concern of the member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), "is that the Panamanian banking system is safeguarding funds originating from these countries, statistics show the opposite."
After signing today a fiscal information convention with France, Panama has completed the 12 fiscal agreements required by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in order to exclude Panama from the list of tax havens.
A press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Panama states:
The Vice President and Foreign Minister, Juan Carlos Varela, will sign with the French Ambassador to Panama, Hugues Goisbault, the Convention for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income.
A treaty signed with France will become the twelfth, enabling Panama to get off the list of tax havens.
As part of measures being taken by the government so that Panama will no longer be considered a tax haven, a treaty will be signed with French representatives in Paris to avoid double taxation (DTT).
With this agreement, which would be the twelfth signed by the country, Panama may ask the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to eliminate it from the gray list.
The finance ministers of both countries began discussing a Double Taxation Agreement.
The Minister of Economy of Panama, Frank De Lima, said a Panamanian trade mission is to visit Aruba in August, headed by the Foreign Trade Vice Minister, José Domingo Arias. "We made recommendations on diversification of economic activities in the island, which was a follow up meeting we had with the Finance Minister in March of last year," he said.
On November 30th Panama will sign a tax agreement with the United States.
The signing is part of a strategy by the country to exclude Panama from the grey-list created by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), informed the minister of Economy and Finance, Frank De Lima.
This is the tenth agreement signed by Panama in its strategy to defend international services and also meet the 12 treaties needed to be excluded from the grey list, said De Lima, and indicated as a benefit that, "Panama is getting the deductibility of conventions for American taxpayers, which will help further promote tourism in our country."