Tax agreement with Belgium

Last Wednesday the Principality signed its first agreement to exchange tax information with another state.

1 bd de Belgique

Franck Biancheri, Government Adviser for External Relations and International Economic & Financial Affairs signed an agreement with Didier Reynders, the Belgian Minister of Finance. It allows tax information exchange between the two countries on a case by case basis. However the grounds for any exchange must be well-founded - general requests that appear to be fishing for information won't be accepted.

The agreement follows Monaco's commitment to implement the OECD standards of transparency, which require it to sign 12 international conventions. At the G20 summit in London earlier this year, the Principality was removed from the OECD's grey list of tax havens as a consequence of its cooperation in increasing transparency and information exchange (see our story).

Negotiations are under way with other countries and it's hoped that further agreements will be signed by the end of 2009.