The Tribune

By Khrisna Russell

THE former Christie administration fell “woefully short” of its commitment to seek and obtain the required number of tax exchange agreements to prevent this country from being blacklisted, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis revealed yesterday, adding only four of 43 agreements were reached months ahead of the last general election.

A letter of invitation from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) sent to former Prime Minister Perry Christie also went unanswered according to government files, Dr Minnis said.

Speaking in the House of Assembly, Dr Minnis explained why his administration has insisted blame be placed at the feet of the former government for the Bahamas’ near-blacklisting by the European Union. It is the second time this month Dr Minnis has faulted the Christie administration for its handling of the matter. In a statement released last week, the prime minister said the PLP had been “lacklustre” and had a late again approach in dealing with its obligations in this regard.

Yesterday, the prime minister said despite the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) in 2014 signing the OECD’s Multilateral Convention for the Automatic Exchange of Tax Information, it was only in December 2016 that letters were sent out seeking agreements from 43 countries.

By March this year, only four bilateral agreements were reached, Dr Minnis said.

“Members should be aware, that despite the fact that the previous government signed the convention on a bilateral basis in 2014, they nonetheless failed to seek and to obtain the required number of bilateral tax exchange agreements with other countries, particularly members of the G-20 and European Union,” Dr Minnis told parliamentarians yesterday.

“This was necessary to comply with the commitments given to the OECD in 2014.

“The files show that it was only in December of 2016, more than two years after committing to do so, that letters were sent out addressed to 43 countries.

“By March of 2017, only four bilateral agreements were reached. This was woefully short of the commitment given by the former government in 2014.”

He continued: “The file also shows that in March 2017 the OECD wrote directly to the then prime minister to invite him to consider whether to cause the Bahamas to also apply to join the ‘inclusive framework’ of the European Union’s ‘Base Erosion and Profit Sharing Initiative’ more commonly referred to as the ‘BEPS Initiative.’

“This letter of invitation remained unanswered based on the contents of the file.

“It should be recalled that the leader of the opposition took great exception to a statement that I issued on this matter earlier this month. The facts are what they are.”

In view of this “precarious” situation inherited from the former government, Dr Minnis said his administration responded aggressively while it was being simultaneously pressed to address the recommendations of the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force’s (CFATF) final mutual evaluation report released in mid-July 2017.

Based on this work, Dr Minnis said the Bahamas has moved away from the threat of being blacklisted and had been invited by the coordinating body of the OECD’s multilateral convention for automatic tax exchange.

Following the prime minister’s communication, Official Opposition Leader Philip “Brave” Davis told House Speaker Halson Moultrie he saw a need to respond to Dr Minnis’ remarks.

However, before he could go any further, Speaker Moultrie interjected saying House rules do not provide for a response to a communication or member statements. He said where the rules are absent, he would rely on Erskine May: Parliamentary Practise.

“You can come by way of notice, but I am not prepared to permit you to respond until I am satisfied that the information is provided to me for me to make a determination,” Speaker Moultrie said.

Mr Davis was consequently denied leave to respond to the prime minister’s remarks.

In a recent House of Assembly session on the Commercial Enterprises Bill, Financial Services Minister Brent Symonette said while the bilateral approach the PLP supported is legitimate, the previous administration did not sign enough of such agreements in a particular time frame to satisfy requirements, prompting the Minnis administration’s need to sign the multilateral agreement.

Mr Davis, in response, noted the agreements require sign-off from partnering countries before they come into force.