Panama hiits back at tax haven label

PANAMA’S government reacted strongly on Thursday, June 25 the decision of the European Commission to include Panama on a list of offshore tax havens.

The government categorically rejects the position taken by the European Commission and calls for the removal of our country from the list of non-cooperative countries,” said a statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
It pointed out that Panama has tax sharing agreements with the Czech Republic, Spain, Finland, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Sweden, and pending agreements with Austria, Denmark and Italy.
“In this sense, the generation and publication of the list is not consistent with the application of the fundamental principles of relations in the modern world, and is only intended to affect the reputation of countries that are called to have a higher level of rapprochement and cooperation, in a globalized world,” the ministry said. “We call on the members of the European Commission to reconsider its position for the mutual benefit of the citizens and financial sectors of both regional blocks.”
Panama was listed by the European Commission as one of 30 countries serving as a tax haven.
This morning, Spain issued a statement through its Embassy twitter account in Panama specifying that that nation does not consider the country as a tax haven.