BATT 'urges' Opposition to support income tax amendments

The Bankers Association (BATT) is “urging” the Opposition to support the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2018 so the Parliament “swiftly pass meaningful tax reform legislation.”

“The proposed amendments would facilitate the exchange of information for tax purposes and effectively combat money laundering and terrorism financing. This is in line with BATT’s efforts to ensure a stronger and more stable financial sector macroeconomic framework that sustains economic growth,” the association said in a statement.

The bill, read in Parliament on Friday, seeks to ensure TT’s compliance with the International Standard on Exchange of Information on request, commonly referred as the EOIR standard. The amendments will advance TT’s international ratings and enable banks to efficiently maintain cross-border correspondent banking relationships. The aim is to improve transparency and compliance of international anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorism financing policies. If these amendments are not passed, local banks could face the threat of “de-risking,” where foreign financial institutions can refuse to do business with local counterparts to mitigate the risk of doing business in countries considered to be non-compliant.

The Opposition said in its rebuttal on Friday that the bill could infringe on privacy rights and needed to be examined.

“While BATT notes the concerns expressed by some members of the Opposition, we would like to assure the general public that adequate mechanisms are in place internationally and domestically to prevent any abuse of the information shared with any jurisdiction. As with the passage of the FATCA legislation, only information relative to citizens of foreign jurisdiction will be eligible for sharing with those jurisdictions,” BATT rsaid.

Failure to pass this legislation could disrupt the smooth flow of correspondent banking relationships between domestic banks and their international correspondents, the association said.

“Cognizant of the vital role that correspondent banking plays in the functioning of the local financial services industry and the wider economy, BATT urges co-operation in the passage of the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill, so as to ensure compliance with international financial integrity standards,” BATT said, pledging its support to enforcement.