Ref. Ares(2017)4867515 - 05/10/2017
ROOM DOCUMENT # 1
Working Party on Tax Questions - Direct Taxation
Savings bilateral agreements with dependent
and associated territories of UK and NL
31 March 2015
ORIGIN: Presidency
Automatic Exchange of Information – Jersey, Guernsey, the Isle of Man
and the Dependent & Associated Territories of NL & UK in the
Caribbean
Since 1 July 2005, Jersey, Guernsey, the Isle of Man and the dependent and
associated territories of NL and the
in the Caribbean have either reported
information to each EU Member or applied a withholding tax to savings
income of EU residents, based on the principles and machinery of the Savings
Directive. The network of agreements follows a common model, negotiated at
EU level, although signed, concluded and applied bilaterally by each Member
State.
Four of these territories (Aruba, Anguilla, the Cayman Islands and
Montserrat) provided automatic exchange of information from the outset.
.
To be noted that the agreements between Croatia and some of the dependent
territories are still not finalised.
The dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles in 2010 into five components
resulted in the creation of three special municipalities (Bonaire, Sint Eustatius
and Saba), which are part of the Netherlands, although remaining outside the
territory to which the EU Treaty and the EU Directives on taxation apply.
These three municipalities exchange information automatically on interest
payments under the Savings Agreements originally signed by the Netherlands
Antilles with each Member State. Only the two former components of the
Netherland Antilles which have become new constituent territories, while still
being part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (Curaçao and Sint Maarten),
continue to levy a withholding tax.
The island of Saint-Barthélemy ceased to be an outermost region of the EU
from 1 January 2012. It gained the status of overseas territory. At the time,
France undertook to conclude the agreements necessary to ensure that the
EU's interests were preserved when the change took place. The EU and
France signed and concluded an agreement on the application of savings tax
legislation to the collectivity of Saint-Barthélemy in 2014.
Recent international developments have resulted in all but two of these
jurisdictions committing to being 'early adopters' of the Global Standard.
Aruba and Sint Maarten have committed to first exchanges under the Global
Standard by September 2018.
Apart from Sint Maarten and, at least formally, from the three municipalities
of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, all the above jurisdictions are included
among the signatories of the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement of
October 2014.
Bearing in mind that exchanges under the Global Standard will be dependent
on arrangements being put in place by each participating jurisdiction, in
relation to each other participating jurisdiction, the Presidency puts the
following questions to Member States:-
1. Do MSs see a need to revise some or all of the existing Savings
Agreements with the Dependent and Associated territories, in the light of
international developments on automatic exchange of financial account
information?
2. If yes, should such revision follow the same bilateral approach as the
existing agreements or should the Commission be mandated to negotiate on
behalf of MSs?
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