MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Looking back on time: when Garcia Margallo championed for Melilla and Ceuta as tax havens
The news wan unearthed by the Madrid right leaning newspaper ABC Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel García-Margallo has long been a vocal critic of Gibraltar’s competitive tax framework, denouncing the Rock as “a tax haven” despite its recognised compliance with international standards set by the EU and the OECD, among others.
But an article unearthed from the archive of the right-leaning Madrid newspaper ABC suggests he was not always of that mind. In 1978, the then MP for Melilla championed special policies and economic status for Melilla and Ceuta, Spain’s North African enclaves.
In an interview with ABC newspaper published on August 1 of that year, García-Margallo spoke of creating “fiscal privileges” and “intermediary companies” to lure national and foreign businesses to the enclaves.
“One solution would be to create a ‘tax haven’ that attracted capital,” he told the right-leaning newspaper.
For the record, Gibraltar long ago shrugged off the ‘tax haven’ label in the eyes of most governments around the globe, Spain excluded naturally.
The Rock complies with all EU directives on financial services and transparency, has signed tax information agreements with 26 countries and is listed on the OECD’s white list. (GC).
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Read all commentsTWIMC….:
Sep 20th, 2013 - 07:51 pm 0The Leaders of Gibraltar, Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Montserrat and Turks & Caicos Islands say…:
“.......Our territories are well regulated, independent financial services jurisdictions, and play an integral role in facilitating global business. We will continue to lead on meeting international standards of tax and transparency.”
I say…:
No Sirs...; the US Congressional Research Service and the Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation (OECD) tell us in their report (page 4) from January 23, 2013 that you are…:
”Tax Havens”
International Tax Avoidance and Evasion
Table 1. Countries Listed on Various Tax Haven Lists
Caribbean…:
***BRITISH OVERSEAS TERRITORY OF ANGUILLA***, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, *** BRITISH OVERSEAS TERRITORY OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS***, ***BRITISH OVERSEAS TERRITORY OF THE CAYMAN ISLANDS***, Dominica, Grenada, ***BRITISH OVERSEAS TERRITORY OF MONSERRAT***, Netherlands Antilles, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Grenadines, *** BRITISH OVERSEAS TERRITORY OF THE TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS***, U.S. Virgin Islands.
Europe / Mediterranean…:
Andorra, ***CHANNEL ISLANDS (GUERSNEY AND JERSEY)***, Cyprus,
***BRITISH OVERSEAS TERRITORY OF GIBRALTAR***, ***ISLE OF MAN***, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, San Marino, Switzerland.
North Atlantic…:
***BRITISH OVERSEAS TERRITORY OF BERMUDA***.
Sources:
Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation (OECD) Towards Global Tax Competition.
Dhammika Dharmapala and James R. Hines, “Which Countries Become Tax Havens?” Journal of Public
Economics, Vol. 93, 0ctober 2009, pp. 1058-1068;
Tax Justice Network, “Identifying Tax Havens and Offshore Finance Centers.
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R40623.pdf
Jeez Think - it's Friday night - have a drink.
Sep 20th, 2013 - 09:00 pm 0TWIMC
Sep 20th, 2013 - 09:59 pm 0Anybody noticed how many ***“BRITISH OVERSEAS TERRITORIES”*** they where the list at my comment (1) ?
Chuckle chuckle......
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