Thursday, December 10, 2009

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Tiea for two By Scott Armstrong ~ Guardian Business Editor ~ scott@nasguard.com: As the race to have 12 international tax treaties in place by the end of the year heats up, two more strides forward have been taken with Belgium, then France, signing on the dotted line with The Bahamas. While it faces a March 2010 deadline the government has pledged to have all 12 tax information exchange agreements in place by the end of the year, giving it just three weeks left. But last week saw frenetic activity and three TIEAs completed with agreements being reached with the Netherlands, China and Argentina. Now The Nassau Guardian can reveal that Belgium and France have officially taken the total to 10 in place. The government has insisted previously that it has negotiated enough agreements to meet the demands of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and is waiting on other nations to complete their end of the paperwork. The OECD has said nations must have the dozen TIEAs in place before March next year if they wish to be taken off its gray list. The signature from Belgium - the home nation of Jean Claude Van Damme, 'the muscles from Brussels' - was the ninth signing, and France became not only the tenth to sign but also the fifth G20 nation to complete a TIEA with The Bahamas. They join the Netherlands, China (G20) and Argentina (G20), New Zealand, the US (G20), the UK (G20), San Marino and Monaco. France is ranked as the fifth largest economy by nominal GDP and according to the World Trade Organization, in 2009 the nation was the world's sixth-largest exporter and the fifth-largest importer of manufactured goods. In 2008, France was the third-largest recipient of foreign direct investment among OECD countries at $117.9 billion Belgium's strongly globalized economy and its transportation infrastructure are integrated with the rest of Europe. Its location at the heart of a highly industrialized region helps made it 2007 the world's 15th largest trading nation. The economy is characterized by a highly productive work force, high GNP and high exports per capita. Wednesday December 09, 2009