St
Kitts and Nevis are islands in the Caribbean
Sea, total 261 sq km in area, population 40,000.
The climate is tropical, tempered by constant
sea breezes and there is little seasonal temperature
variation. There can be hurricanes.
The
capital is Basseterre, on St Kitts. Bradshaw
International Airport, near Basseterre, can
handle large jets. There are now direct flights
from New York, Philadelphia, Miami and Gatwick.
St.
Kitts became Britain's first colony in the West
Indies with the founding of a settlement in
1623. The Federation of St Kitts and Nevis finally
attained full political independence within
the Commonwealth in 1983 and, in order to relieve
the anxiety of Nevisvians, Nevis acquired autonomy
within the Federation, together with its own
Legislature and Cabinet. In 1998, a vote in
Nevis on a referendum to separate from Saint
Kitts fell short of the two-thirds majority
needed. Unlike most other English speaking Caribbean
jurisdictions, St Kitts and Nevis is neither
a dependency, nor a crown colony of Britain,
which means that it is not subject to the EU's
Savings Tax Directive.
The
legal system is largely based on English Common
Law, and appeal is to the Caribbean Court of Appeal
based in Trinidad and Tobago.
Although
sugar dominated the agricultural sector until
2005, when it was finally abandoned as a major
crop, activities such as tourism, export-oriented
manufacturing, and offshore banking have assumed
larger roles in the economy. GDP
growth was good in 2004 and 2005, and the IMF
predicts that St Kitts & Nevis will be one
of the stronger Caribbean economic performers
in 2007 and 2008, with 6% growth envisaged in
2007. The
Federation's currency is the East Caribbean dollar,
pegged at 2.7 to the US dollar.
St
Kitts and Nevis has offshore legislation as a
Federation, but so does Nevis independently. On
the whole, St Kitts focuses on attracting inward
industrial and tourist investment, while Nevis
concentrates more on offshore asset protection.
Nevis has been particularly successful with its
LLC (Limited Liability Company) legislation.
In
2000, St Kitts and Nevis found itself on the OECD
and FATF blacklists, but was removed from both
after promising to tidy up legislative problems,
which was done with a number of enactments in
2001-2003.
One of the web's largest and
most authoritative business and investment information sources. Alongside
topical, daily news on worldwide
tax developments, you can receive weekly newswires or
access up-to-date intelligence
reports on a range of legal, tax and investment subjects.
Our 16 constantly updated
intelligence reports cover every important aspect of 'offshore' and international
tax-planning in depth, including banking secrecy, the EU's savings tax
directive, offshore funds, e-commerce, offshore gaming and transfer pricing.
Reports are available for immediate downloading or as subscription
services with news pages.
Advertising & Marketing
With over 50,000 qualified readers every month our web-sites
offer a number of cost effective, targeted advertising,
sponsorship and marketing opportunities:
Display advertising - from 'skyscrapers' to 'buttons'
Content/article submission and sponsorship
Opt-in email marketing
On-line Services Directory listings
Could your corporate web-site or newsletter benefit
from incorporating regularly updated news and content
tailored to serve your clients' interests? We can provide
a variety of maintenance-free news and content solutions
that can be seamlessly integrated and dynamically delivered:
IMPORTANT NOTICE: LOWTAX.NET
has taken reasonable care in sourcing and presenting the information
contained on this site, but accepts no responsibility for any financial
or other loss or damage that may result from its use. In particular,
users of the site are advised to take appropriate professional advice
before committing themselves to involvement in offshore jurisdictions,
offshore trusts or offshore investments. All materials on this site
copyright LOWTAX.NET 1999 to 2007. Contact
us for further information.
