Dutch parliament scrutinizes new tax treaties
The day before yesterday we noted a few things about the Netherlands - the country seems to be waking up to tax abuse, just like so many other places. A guest blogger from the Netherlands has just sent us this:
"In the Netherlands in the past, new tax treaties used to be silently approved in parliament. This is no longer the case. Two opposition parties have now requested that two tax treaties which the Dutch Ministry of Finance signed with Bahrain and Qatar in 2008 (full treaties for the prevention of double taxation, not just tax information exchange agreements,) are discussed and explicitly approved by parliament before the treaties enter into force.
Bahrain is a tax haven. The country does not tax corporate profits except for companies in the oil and gas industry. VAT and withholding taxes are zero, and although there are some social security charges, personal income is not taxed either. The OECD also includes Bahrain in its list of tax haven jurisdictions committed to improve exchange of tax information. Some of the questions by Dutch parliamentarians, for example about the use of financial trusts and the application of the EU Savings Tax Directive, are directly related to Bahrain’s tax haven status.
Qatar is not widely known as a tax haven but in many respects its tax system is similar. Qatar does tax corporate income, and at a high rate, but companies can apply for exemptions on an individual basis. Both countries already have several tax treaties in force. Bahrain recently negotiated a new tax treaty with Luxembourg and Qatar just signed one with Poland.
New questions were submitted to the Dutch government last Thursday. Over the next month, The Ministry of Finance will answer these questions and the parliament will continue the debate."
Progress on all fronts!
"In the Netherlands in the past, new tax treaties used to be silently approved in parliament. This is no longer the case. Two opposition parties have now requested that two tax treaties which the Dutch Ministry of Finance signed with Bahrain and Qatar in 2008 (full treaties for the prevention of double taxation, not just tax information exchange agreements,) are discussed and explicitly approved by parliament before the treaties enter into force.
Bahrain is a tax haven. The country does not tax corporate profits except for companies in the oil and gas industry. VAT and withholding taxes are zero, and although there are some social security charges, personal income is not taxed either. The OECD also includes Bahrain in its list of tax haven jurisdictions committed to improve exchange of tax information. Some of the questions by Dutch parliamentarians, for example about the use of financial trusts and the application of the EU Savings Tax Directive, are directly related to Bahrain’s tax haven status.
Qatar is not widely known as a tax haven but in many respects its tax system is similar. Qatar does tax corporate income, and at a high rate, but companies can apply for exemptions on an individual basis. Both countries already have several tax treaties in force. Bahrain recently negotiated a new tax treaty with Luxembourg and Qatar just signed one with Poland.
New questions were submitted to the Dutch government last Thursday. Over the next month, The Ministry of Finance will answer these questions and the parliament will continue the debate."
Progress on all fronts!
posted by TJN at 3:17 am
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