| Government Moves to Protect Jobs and Investments in the Offshore Sector |
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| Expatriate Blog | |||
| Friday, 07 August 2009 00:00 | |||
From The Guardian Over the years the International Financial Services (IFS) sector in Belize has contributed millions of dollars in fees and taxes to the government and provides much needed employment to Belizean professionals and investments in Belize’s tourism and real estate sectors, but this industry is now under serious threat from the G20 countries, the group of countries that comprise the 20 most powerful countries on the planet. For this industry to survive it must adapt to the changing environment and respond to its most serious threats, and it is with this in mind that last week the government passed an amendment to the Income and Business Tax Act that authorizes the Minister of Finance to enter into tax information exchange treaties with other countries. The average Belizean knows very little of a very striving and successful business sector in Belize called International Financial Services, or Offshore Services as it is most commonly referred to. In fact the words Offshore Financial Services generally evoke an impression of money laundering by many Belizeans but nothing can be further from the truth. In reality all developed countries offer these international (offshore) financial services but many citizens of these developed countries choose to use the services offered by other countries because of the confidentiality, protection and low or zero tax rates that those countries provide, for this reason developed countries have labeled those other countries tax havens. There are approximately 45 countries that are classified as tax havens and among those there are 14 islands in the Caribbean and three Central American countries, of which Belize is one. The authority that regulates this industry in Belize is the International Financial Service Commission and presently this body has licensed 66 companies to provide International company formation services, 36 companies to provide Trustee services, 13 companies to provide international insurance services, five companies that provide Mutual funds services, three companies that provide International asset Protection and management services, six companies that are licensed to trade in International securities, three companies that offer international money lending, and three companies that offer International brokerage, advisory and consultancy services. All these companies pay annual licensing fees to the government and must retain an office in Belize. These companies are owned by Belizeans and non-Belizeans and for the most part there are hundreds of highly skilled Belizeans employed in this industry. In addition to the businesses listed above there are six licensed international banks in Belize which hold cumulative assets in excess of 250 million US dollars and which also employ many Belizean professionals. While residents of Belize cannot deposit their U.S. dollars in these banks or access these funds, some have been used to fund hotel developments in Belize. The international financial service sector applauds government’s move to apply international standards on transparency and effective exchange of information relating to tax treaties as it is a necessary step to help to position Belize as an asset protection jurisdiction as adverse to a tax haven one. This action should help to reduce the pressures being brought upon Belize by the most powerful countries and to avoid being classified as an offshore secrecy jurisdiction. See also this page for more details. 
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