International Treaties and Conventions

St. Kitts and Nevis Double Tax Treaties

The Federation of St Kitts and Nevis is party to double taxation treaties with Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States of America (limited to social security benefits).

Like most other English speaking Caribbean jurisdictions, Saint Kitts and Nevis is neither a dependency, nor a crown colony of Britain, which means that it is not subject to the EU's Savings Tax Directive.

St. Kitts and Nevis Other International Agreements

In mid-1998, St. Kitts and Nevis signed a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty with the United States. As is usual for Mutual Legal Assistance Agreements under the Caribbean Basin Initiative, the treaty covers exchange of information for money laundering, drug abuse, criminal activity or fraud but specifically does not extend to any taxation matters.

Alongside most other Caribbean offshore jurisdictions, St Kitts has expressed its willingness to enter into Tax Information Exchange Agreements with OECD members. Such agreements will apply to criminal tax matters beginning in the first year after 31 December 2003 and for civil tax matters beginning in the first year after 31 December 2005. The exchanges shall be achieved through the adoption of tax information exchange agreements that require the effective exchange of information in specific tax matters upon request. The tax information exchange agreements will include protections against unauthorised disclosures or unauthorised use of information.

In response to international pressure, including the campaigns of the OECD and the FATF, St Kitts and Nevis has also introduced a number of measures to upgrade its anti-money laundering legislation:

• The Anti-Money Laundering (Amendment) Regulations SR&O 36 of 2001 amend section 4 of the existing Anti Money Laundering Regulations. The original section 4 provided blanket exemptions for the "Know Your Customer" requirements to persons operating in FATF or CFATF member countries that were listed in the Guidance Notes. However, the new section 4 tightens up this provision considerably;
• The Nevis Business Corporation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2001 (No. 3 of 2001) which seeks to immobilize bearer shares in Nevis and provide for bearer shares to be kept in the custody of a registered agent on the island of Nevis;
• The Companies (Amendment) Act, 2001 (No. 14 of 2001), which immobilizes bearer certificates issued by Companies under the Companies Act of St. Kitts, 1996;
• The Nevis Offshore Banking (Amendment) Ordinance, 2001 which provides for beneficial owners or shareholders of companies involved in offshore banking in Nevis being properly identified. It also makes provision for only "fit and proper" persons having any interest greater than 5% in any Offshore Banking entities in Nevis;
• Other recent legislation includes the Money Laundering (Prevention) Act 2000, the Financial Services Intelligence Unit Act 2000, and the Financial Services Commission Act 2000. The latter piece of legislation seeks to establish the Financial Services Commission as the main regulatory body for the offshore sector.

In August, 2004, St Kitts and Nevis ratified the Inter-American Convention against Corruption to become the 32nd member country of the Organization of American States (OAS) to join this treaty. Ambassador Izben C. Williams, Permanent Representative of St Kitts and Nevis to the OAS presented the instruments of ratification to Assistant Secretary General Luigi Einaudi, in a brief ceremony at OAS headquarters.

The Inter-American Convention against Corruption was adopted in Caracas, Venezuela, in March 1996 and entered into force a year later.

St. Kitts and Nevis Financial Intelligence Unit

In 2002 St. Kitts and Nevis established a Financial Intelligence Unit, which facilitates the exchange of information with competent regulatory authorities of other jurisdictions and carries out investigations into suspicious activities that may occur in financial institutions within the Federation.

Source: lowtax.net