Monti clamps down on Gibraltar
Gibraltar looks set to lose its tax haven status today as EU competition commissioner, Mario Monti, asks it to phase out its Exempt Company regime by 2005, reports the Associated Press.
Link: Gibraltar expects EU nod on tax changes
The current regime allows foreign companies based in Gibraltar, but which do business outside its borders, to pay a low flat fee rather than the 35% tax rate for resident companies.
‘This is a selective tax relief that benefits only few companies. As such it violates EU state aid rules,’ Tilman Lueder, spokesman for the European Union’s head office, told AP.
Iberia News reports that the news has not yet been fully confirmed with the government of Gibraltar.