The Tax Information Exchange Agreement  (TIEA) between The Bahamas and Canada, which could result in greater foreign direct investment and employment opportunities, came into force Wednesday.
Canada's Department of Finance made the announcement yesterday, posting a notice on its website indicating that the agreement was signed.   With the TIEA in effect, it means that Canadian corporations will be able to set up active business in The Bahamas and, once they meet the stringent qualifying standards and tests, take advantage of the special tax incentive.
According to Deloitte Bahamas managing partner, Raymond Winder, this TIEA creates a competitive advantage for the Bahamas compared to Barbados.
"The biggest thing about this is the fact that for years Barbados has had competitive advantage over The Bahamas because it had a tax treaty with Canada which allowed Canadian companies to be domiciled in Barbados and repatriate profits to Canada and pay a small corporate tax in Barbados," Winder said.
"The TIEA allows The Bahamas the same privileges that the Barbados tax treaty allows, the only difference is the Canadian subsidiary doesn't need to incur any tax at all in The Bahamas to get this treatment.   So the TIEA actually puts The Bahamas and other countries that sign TIEAs [with Canada] at a competitive advantage as compared to the current tax treaty Canada has with Barbados."
Getting into some of the legal aspects of the agreement, Higgs & Johnson partner, Dr Earl Cash, honed in on Article 13 of the TIEA.  That article spells out the terms of the agreement's entry into force.  It indicates that activities that either government is seeking information about must relate to matters considered a criminal offense in its own jurisdiction.
Cash also pointed out that the agreement reaches back to cover a taxable period from January 1, 2004.  He said this may have been done to not prejudice Canada's information exchange provisions with The Bahamas against those of the United States, which has tax information exchange provisions with  going back to that time.
Initially singed-off since June 17th, Canadian legislators had to enact changes to its excise laws to bring the TIEA into force. "The Excise Act and Excise Tax Act" amendments received royal assent in Canada on June 26th, paving the way for the TIEA coming into force.
At the time, Canadian-based experts Guardian Business spoke to thought early fall was a likely timeframe for the agreement coming into effect.

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