Talk:European Union withholding tax
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[edit] Barbados
Removed this statement:
- In the case of the latter, it is popularly thought that this is an oversight by the EU due to a mistaken belief that the island was a British territory.
Not only is that unsourced, its just silly. Do you really think the EU would make that kind of mistake? The whole idea is just nonsense. --SJK 13:23, 3 August 2006 (UTC)
The statement you deleted referred to Bermuda (rather than Barbados), which was left off the list of dependencies and territories in error. Well, that's what Big 4 accountancy firm Ernst & Young say anyway http://www.ey.com/global/download.nsf/Austria/EU_Savings_Directive_0106/$file/EUSD%20Alert_V4.pdf Bosh 78 21:49, 29 November 2006 (UTC)Bosh_78
- Both Barbados and Bermuda were left off by "mistake" in the sense that they were both intended to be caught in the dragnet and the EU has evinced an intention to put pressure on both to sign up. The difference is that Bermuda is a dependancy (and thus, in theory, the UK's FCO can impose legislation on it by Order in Council), but Barbados is not (and so is in a stronger negotiating position). As to the issue of whether one should "really think the EU would make that kind of mistake"... oh, if you only knew. To be fair, the withholding tax was so fiercely negotiated with so many different countries (both within and outside of the EU - Britain was hugely opposed in principle), the failure to get a sign-up from Barbados and Bermuda ranks amongst the smaller failings of the process. The fact that it does not affect capital growth bonds, interest paid to companies and trusts, or any interest accruing in other major offshore banking centres like Hong Kong and Singapore are of rather more concern to the EU. Legis 09:07, 30 November 2006 (UTC)