Latin American States Expand Treaty Networks

by Mike Godfrey, Tax-News.com, London

05 July 2011

Panama and Costa Rica have expanded their tax treaty networks, with the former signing a new double tax agreement (DTA), and the latter inking seven tax information exchange agreements (TIEA).

Costa Rica signed TIEAs with the Nordic Council states of Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands.

The deals were made on June 29, and signed at the residence of the Finnish ambassador to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris.

The TIEAs are classed as bilateral deals for constitutional reasons, and so must pass through each of the individual Nordic national parliaments, along with that of Costa Rica.

On June 30, Panama inked its latest DTA, with France. It was signed by Panama's Vice President and Foreign Minister Juan Carlos Valera, and by the French Ambassador Hugues Goisbault.

The treaty is Panama's 12th in 16 months, and meets the OECD's requirements.

TAGS: tax | tax information exchange agreement (TIEA) | double tax agreement (DTA) | Denmark | Iceland | Faroe Islands | Norway | agreements | Costa Rica | Finland | France | Sweden | Greenland | Panama