Tax havens and tax incentives : OECD and EU initiatives and their likely impact on Maltese legislation

Abstract

This thesis analyses the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and European Union (EU) initiatives on Harmful Tax Competition and their likely impact on the Maltese legislation. In 1997, the EU adopted a Code of Conduct on Business Taxation to co-ordinate the fight against harmful tax competition at the European Community level. In 1998, the OECD also adopted a similar approach to address harmful tax practices, namely tax havens and preferential tax regimes, in a report entitled: Harmful Tax Competition: An Emerging Global Issue. Following a discussion on the definition of a 'tax haven' and its typical attributes the change in Malta's legislation from an 'offshore' centre to an 'onshore' one is discussed in the light of Malta's commitment to the OECD to eliminate any harmful tax practices with a special reference to the status of Cyprus, another jurisdiction which, like Malta, intends to become a member of the EU and who will, eventually, have to restructure its fiscal legislation. In particular, the thesis examines the Maltese fiscal regime in the light of the OECD's and EU initiatives on the elimination of harmful tax competition. Different aspects of the Maltese fiscal legislation are analysed in the light of the OECD's and EU's reports respectively. Proposals as to the changes that must be made to the Maltese legislation so as to comply with the OECD and EU initiatives on harmful tax competition are made and an analysis of the Maltese legislation vis-a-vis possible Maltese EU membership is also attempted.