As Obama “Tax-ifies” the Caribbean and We Grovel to the IMF

 

By the end of last year, 195 countries had signed tax-information exchange agreements, prompted by increased scrutiny from the G-20, the head of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Develop-ment's Tax Center announced Jan. 19. Among the countries to have 'substantially implemented' the anti-tax haven standards were Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina and Mexico.
Read more: http://www.poder360.com/article_detail.php?id_article=3541#ixzz0h9KpjdHb

 

Real income in the Caricom area is less today than it was 10 years ago; unemployment is higher in 2009 than it was in 1999; poverty has expanded in many countries; and many Caricom countries now experience debt levels of over 100 per cent of their GDP
~Ronald Sanders

The picture for international financial services is just as bleak. Having fought off the so-called 'Harmful Tax Competition Initiative' (HTCI) of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) -- the club of the rich countries -- in 2002, Caribbean governments allowed themselves to be threatened by the newly formed G20 countries in 2009 into signing up to 12 Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEAs) with OECD countries. New members of the G20 -- Brazil, China, India and South Africa -- who Caribbean countries might have expected to fight in their corner, simply endorsed the OECD agenda.

The cost of compliance with these agreements will place an unreasonable burden of cost on regulatory bodies and financial institutions in the Caribbean.

I hope Mr. Bruce Golding and Mr. Audley Shaw read that last sentence…