Unenacted law to blame for RP’s tax haven listing

The Philippines’ failure to enact a law providing for the exchange of information had likely led to the country’s inclusion in France’s list of tax havens, a Finance official said on Tuesday. A wire report on Monday said France had drawn up a list of 18 "uncooperative" states and planned to sanction French companies that have a presence there. Asked to comment, Finance Undersecretary Gil F. Beltran cited the country’s having been included last year in an Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) blacklist of countries that had yet to implement an internationally agreed standard. But after the country and three others on the list pledged to cooperate in the fight against tax abuse, the OECD quickly moved them to the grey list — "jurisdictions that have committed to the internationally agreed tax standard, but have not yet substantially implemented [it]". Beltran said the matter hinged on the signing into law and implementation of the information exchange bill passed by Congress last December. According to the AFP report, Paris planned to 50 from 35 percent its tax on dividends, interest and license fees paid by French companies to people or other firms located in tax havens. The French Embassy in Manila was not immediately available for comment. Total Philippines Corp. President and Managing Director Ernst Wanten said in a telephone interview France’s plan would not affect the company. "This does not apply to Total Philippines. Our understanding is this affects mainly tax residents in the Philippines, individuals or companies who have interest or activities in France," he said. — BusinessWorld