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Since
Andorra does not levy direct taxes, there are
no double tax treaties between Andorra and other
nations.
Other
International Agreements
Andorra
announced in 2009 that it would conform to the
OECD's exchange of information standards, and
In September
head of government, James Bartumeu, welcomed French
Budget Minister, Eric Woerth, on September 22
to Andorra to sign an agreement to allow for the
exchange of tax information between the two countries.
The
agreement is Andorra’s fifth in five days,
having signed agreements with Austria, Monaco,
Liechtenstein and San Marino. Speaking after concluding
the agreement, Woerth acknowledged Andorra’s
commitment to transparency and information exchange,
and noted that it has reinforced the jurisdiction’s
position as an international financial center.
The
French delegation’s visit, Andorra’s
government declared, will lead to greater cooperation
between the two countries. Welcoming the signing,
Woerth presented a letter from the French government
expressing the country’s willingness to
establish an agreement to avoid double taxation
with Andorra, provided Andorra continues its drive
towards transparency and information exchange.
According
to Bartumeu the agreements involve only a partial
lifting of banking secrecy, noting that tax information
need only be exchanged when there is solid evidence
of the perpetration of a tax crime, and not in
so-called "fishing expeditions" and
not on a retrospective basis.
James
Bartumeu added that Andorra has reached an agreement
to exchange tax information with Belgium, and
is currently negotiating texts with Spain and
the Netherlands. Andorra is also in discussions
with the United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark, Iceland,
Norway, Finland, Sweden, Australia, and Argentina.
In
February, 2010,
Andorra achieved recognition as a territory that
has substantially implemented the internationally-agreed
standard in transparency and tax information exchange
with the signing of seven additional information
exchange agreements with the Nordic countries
- Denmark, the Faroe Islands, Finland, Greenland,
Iceland, Norway and Sweden.
The signing with the Nordic group brings the territory’s
total of such agreements to seventeen, far exceeding
the twelve TIEA quota set by G20 in April 2009.
Accordingly, Andorra now moves onto the Organization
for Economic Cooperation and Devlopment (OECD)
‘white list’.
Andorra
is a member of the Global Forum on Transparency
and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes and
has agreed to participate in a peer review of
its laws and practices in this area.
Pascal
Saint-Amans, head of the Global Forum Secretariat,
said: “I am very pleased with the progress
Andorra has made. Just one year ago it was still
on the OECD’s list of uncooperative tax
havens, and now it has made a commitment, changed
its laws and has substantially implemented the
agreed standard.”
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