Panama Tax Havens and Tax Transparency.
The French government welcomes the measures taken by the government of Panama in financial transparency and denies there is a new list of tax havens which includes Panama.
The French embassy confirmed his appreciation of the efforts accomplished by Panama in financial transparency.
The statement comes after the publication on Monday in the newspaper Le Monde of a note in which it is said that France has created a new blacklist of tax havens which includes Switzerland, Lebanon and Panama.
The French embassy said that “the list evoked by the newspaper Le Monde does not reflect the position of France.”
According to the embassy, this is nothing more than a technical services list defined by the French Development Agency, which is based on the list of the OECD Global Forum, in addition to the national list.
Frank De Lima, Minister of Economy of Panama, said that every January the French government prepares a list of countries considered tax havens, and that “since 2012, Panama is not part of that list.”
Panama has signed with France an agreement to avoid double taxation and facilitate tax information exchange. The agreement was signed on 30 June 2011 and became effective on 1 January 2012. A tax haven is a territory or State that is characterized by applying a tax regime especially favorable to citizens and non-resident companies that are domiciled for legal purposes in it. Typically, these advantages consist of a total exemption or a very significant reduction in the payment of the main taxes, as well as bank secrecy.
Tax havens are one of the most used instruments by people and companies that practice tax avoidance and evasion. This refers to avoiding the responsibility of paying tax taxes imposed by the laws of a State to maintain the balance between harmony and the obligations existing in it.
Panama Tax havens and tax transparency are a subject considered controversial because in most cases it is considered an act of public immorality to want to hide the true amounts of money that is possessed and immediately associate that fact as an illegal activity . In reality, without tax havens many companies would be destined to close, due to the international competition of companies resident in countries where the tax burden is much lower. So there are companies that must re-domicile in these countries to be able to compete.