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Singapore gets tough on global tax cheats: govt
(AFP) – 1 day ago
SINGAPORE — Singapore has passed a law aimed at tightening the screws on cross-border tax cheats and complying with stricter standards for world banking centres, the finance ministry said Tuesday.
The move is the latest measure by Southeast Asia's financial capital, which denies being a haven for tax evaders, to get itself off a "grey list" of countries that have not fully implemented the standards.
A bill amending Singapore's tax laws was passed by parliament Monday and the government expects to sign enough bilateral agreements to be upgraded to the "white list" of compliant countries by the end of the year, the ministry said.
The standards refer to a set of principles drawn up by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) outlining how countries should address international tax evasion through information sharing.
"The changes we are enacting are fully in keeping with Singapore's status and reputation as a trusted and responsible business and financial hub committed to the international efforts to combat cross-border tax evasion," Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam told parliament Monday.
He said the city-state had reached agreements with 20 jurisdictions to incorporate the OECD's global standards, which were endorsed by a United Nations committee on tax cooperation last year.
Singapore has formally signed Avoidance of Double Taxation Agreements (DTAs) with 11 of the 20 countries and territories and needs only to ink its 12th accord to get out of the OECD gray list, Shanmugaratnam said.
"We are confident that we will formally conclude more than 12 agreements before the end of this year," the finance minister said.
Despite passing the amended law, Shanmugaratnam assured depositors that there will be no indiscriminate prying into taxpayers' accounts.
"Spurious or frivolous requests for information will not be acceded to. Further, it (the amended law) does not allow for 'fishing expeditions,'" he said.
This means that requests for information must be "specific, detailed and relevant to the tax affairs of a given taxpayer," the minister added.
Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
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(AFP) – 1 day ago
SINGAPORE — Singapore has passed a law aimed at tightening the screws on cross-border tax cheats and complying with stricter standards for world banking centres, the finance ministry said Tuesday.
The move is the latest measure by Southeast Asia's financial capital, which denies being a haven for tax evaders, to get itself off a "grey list" of countries that have not fully implemented the standards.
A bill amending Singapore's tax laws was passed by parliament Monday and the government expects to sign enough bilateral agreements to be upgraded to the "white list" of compliant countries by the end of the year, the ministry said.
The standards refer to a set of principles drawn up by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) outlining how countries should address international tax evasion through information sharing.
"The changes we are enacting are fully in keeping with Singapore's status and reputation as a trusted and responsible business and financial hub committed to the international efforts to combat cross-border tax evasion," Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam told parliament Monday.
He said the city-state had reached agreements with 20 jurisdictions to incorporate the OECD's global standards, which were endorsed by a United Nations committee on tax cooperation last year.
Singapore has formally signed Avoidance of Double Taxation Agreements (DTAs) with 11 of the 20 countries and territories and needs only to ink its 12th accord to get out of the OECD gray list, Shanmugaratnam said.
"We are confident that we will formally conclude more than 12 agreements before the end of this year," the finance minister said.
Despite passing the amended law, Shanmugaratnam assured depositors that there will be no indiscriminate prying into taxpayers' accounts.
"Spurious or frivolous requests for information will not be acceded to. Further, it (the amended law) does not allow for 'fishing expeditions,'" he said.
This means that requests for information must be "specific, detailed and relevant to the tax affairs of a given taxpayer," the minister added.
Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
Related articles
Add News to your Google Homepage
