Found at: http://www.anguillaguide.com/article/articleprint/2440/-1/135/
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The passage of a Bill for The Mutual Legal Assistance (Tax Matters) Act, 2005 was delayed in the Anguilla House of Assembly on Tuesday, May 24, following strong objections by two members. The draft legislation was however taken back to the House on Thursday afternoon, May 26, for further consideration.
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Speaker David Carty
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The Bill apparently has to be passed in the legislatures of the UK Overseas Territories including Anguilla. It was introduced by Acting Chief Minister and Minister of Finance, Victor Banks. He told Speaker David Carty that this Bill and the Supplementary Appropriation Bill No. 1 of 2005 were urgent matters. He requested that rule 53 should be suspended to allow the Bills to be given their three readings and passed.
The objects and reasons of the Mutual Legal Assistance (Tax Matters) Bill, which was published in the Anguilla Official Gazette on May 3, are to implement part of the European Union’s Council Directive on taxation on savings income in the form of interest payments.
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Hon. Victor Banks
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The Bill is to give “effect to the terms of agreement with a Member State with which the Anguilla Government entered into an arrangement to apply exchange information on savings income.”
Other provisions are the Bill are as follows: It “requires information to be reported to the Comptroller of Inland Revenue about savings income paid to, or secured for, an individual resident in a Member State in the course of a business or profession….
“The Bill enables the Minister to make regulations for the purpose of giving effect to its provisions. It further makes provision for confidentiality…
“The Bill provides for the use of information transmitted by or to a Member State and, where it is used for a purpose other than that for which it was provided, enables the Government of Anguilla to unilaterally suspend the operation of the Agreement.”
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Hon. Edison Baird
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Opposition Member, Edison Baird, objected to the Bill being given its three readings and passed facilitated by the suspension of the appropriate rule. He said he had “a serious problem” with the Bill and was still in the process of researching its provisions and discussing them with various concerned persons.
“I believe that it is necessary for members of the opposition to engage in full and complete discussions with these persons and factions in our community who have difficulty with this Bill,” he went on. “I intend to continue to hold discussions with relevant and knowledgeable persons as well as with ordinary Anguillians who are very much concerned about the potential far-reaching implications of this Bill.”
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Hon. Keesha Webster
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Keesha Webster requested that there should be no suspension of the Rules of Procedure to allow the passage of the Bill. She asked for time to be given to research and discuss the Bill outside the House and then for members to return to further consider its provisions.
“I believe that as a citizen and Attorney that there are crucial and fundamental ramifications for Anguilla entailed in this Bill that I don’t think any of us would be schooled on,” she continued. “I am going to certainly suggest to the House at the appropriate time that we solicit special assistance from qualified persons so that we can understand the true ramifications of the Bill… I can tell you, Mr. Speaker, that there is a considerable number of people and organizations having concerns about this Bill. I think it would be an injustice if we were not to look fully at all the ramifications before we go into the third reading.”
Replying, Mr. Banks requested that the matter should be discussed in the Speaker’s Chambers to find a way forward, taking into account the concerns expressed by the two members.
The Speaker said he preferred, as much as possible, that the House should follow the rules safeguarding the democratic process. He believed that they were put in place for good reasons. He added that although the rules allowed the House of Assembly to suspend them if it so desired, he would urge caution in the matter.
There was no further discussion on the Bill. The other matter dealt with was the Supplementary Appropriation Bill 2005 which provides for an additional budgetary expenditure of $4,542,202. The House was then adjourned until Thursday at 2.30 pm.
Absent members were Chief Minister Osbourne Fleming and Opposition Member Hubert Hughes who were off the island at the time of the meeting.