Panama, Qatar Sign Double Taxation Treaty

by Mike Godfrey, Tax-News.com, Washington

04 October 2010

The president of Panama, Ricardo Martinelli Berrocal, accompanied by the vice-preisident, Juan Carlos Varela, met with the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, at the United Nations Building in New York to sign a double taxation treaty between Panama and Qatar.

This agreement for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income is the fourth such agreement signed by Panama. It includes a tax information exchange protocol to conform with Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) guidelines on tax administration in order to remove Panama from the OECD’s grey list of countries which have yet to demonstrate full cooperation on tax matters.

Panama has recently signed agreements to avoid double taxation with Mexico, Barbados and Portugal and has completed negotiations with Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, France, Luxembourg, Korea and Singapore as part of its 'National Strategy for the Promotion of International and Financial Services'.

Vice president Juan Carlos Varela will travel to Europe with Frank De Lima, vice minister for finance, in the first week of October to sign similar agreements with Spain, France, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.

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