The Bahamas and other offshore centers have received backing for their stance on the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) “harmful tax practices” initiative from the world’s leading industrialised nations, who have called upon the Pari- based forum’s members to ensure a “level playing field” on tax information exchange.
A statement issued following a Group of Seven (G-7) nations and their central bank governors called upon the OECD to create a tax information sharing structure that would not give any financial centre a competitive advantage.
The statement said, “We urge the OECD countries to implement the standards set out in the OECD’s 2000 report on access to bank information and to ensure effective exchange for all tax purposes. A level playing field is crucial to avoid tax evasion shifting from those countries that engage in exchange information to those that do not.”
The G-7’s call will provide a boost for The Bahamas in it’s campaign for equal treatment from the OECD, especially since that body’s members include the US, the UK, France, and Germany, who are among the Paris-based forum’s leading participants.
Source: Neil Hartnell, The Tribune
