May adopt OECD convention
Macau is strongly rejecting its designation to the European Union’s blacklist of 17 global tax avoidance havens.
The Chinese territory, which is also the world’s No. 1 gaming destination, is seeking to be removed from the list, which also includes South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, Guam, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago.
According to Inside Asian Gaming, Macau authorities are “maintaining close contact” with Mainland China officials on the adoption of the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters, an initiative of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. Adopting the OECD convention may help Macau get off the EU list of “non-cooperative” jurisdictions.
Though the government immediately slammed the designation as “unilateral and biased,” Secretary for Economy and Finance Leong Vai Tac then added that the government will work to be delisted “on the proviso there is evidence that other jurisdictions in a similar position have had similar listing status lifted after taking follow-up measures.”
He insisted Macau is not a “tax-avoidance haven,” and noted that Macau just received six “substantial effectiveness” in the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering’s Mutual Evaluation Report list for 2017.
