13 May 2010

Marshalls and Australia sign tax information exchange treaty

12:17 pm on 13 May 2010

The Marshall Islands and Australia have agreed on a new tax information exchange treaty, the second the Marshalls government has signed.

The move is seen as a step to get the Marshall Islands off the grey list of tax havens drawn up by the Organisation for Economic Development and Cooperation.

The government in Majuro has already signed a treaty with the United States and is expected to sign treaties with 11 other nations to meet OECD standards for removal from the tax haven list.

The Marshall Islands was originally blacklisted by OECD in the mid-2000s, but after transparency commitments were made by the government, the OECD moved the Marshalls to its grey list.