Singapore to host global tax forum

A major tax summit involving representatives from more than 90 countries will be held here later this year.

The Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes monitors and evaluates the international standard on how tax information is shared across borders.

This will be the Global Forum's first meeting after it became a stand-alone body last year.

Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said: "Singapore is pleased to host the Global Forum at an important time - as it puts in place an objective peer review process aimed at monitoring the implementation of the internationally agreed standard for exchange of information. Singapore has been working actively with others to institute this process."

Singapore 5th easiest place to pay taxes

Singapore has maintained the same ranking as last year in the latest survey of 183 economies by the World Bank Group and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

The top four economies are the Maldives, Qatar, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates.

Despite the economic downturn, governments have generally remained focused on tax reform.

For Singapore, the report noted that it was during the 1990s, when the Asian financial crisis struck, that the Republic bit the bullet and undertook reforms to combat the economic downturn.

Singapore lowered business costs through a series of tax cuts, rebates and exemptions introduced over the course of the crisis.

Singapore in the White

The crucial step in the "grey to white" process was taken yesterday when the Government signed a protocol to amend the standing agreement for the avoidance of double taxation (DTA) with France.

Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam took time out from Apec meetings to ink the deal with French Minister for the Economy, Industry and Employment Christine Largade.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) requires a country to seal 12 such deals before it can join the white list.

Later in the day, the Minister from the Prime Minister's Office and Second Minister for Finance and Transport, Mrs Lim Hwee Hua, signed a similar pact with Brunei.

Singapore has pacts with 13 countries - Belgium, New Zealand, Britain, Denmark, The Netherlands, Australia, Austria, Norway, Qatar, Mexico, Bahrain, France and Brunei.