Gulf Countries Are Not Havens, Says Lawyer
11-17-2009 | Source: International Tax Review Week
The member states of the
Gulf Cooperation Council should be seen as onshore financial centres and not tax havens, a lawyer at a leading international firm has said.
Jonathan De Lance-Holmes, partner at Linklaters in London, believes that attitudes need to change if the region is to continue attracting foreign investment.
He emphasised that these locations are entirely different to offshore centres such as the Cayman Islands
Speaking today at a conference in London entitled GCC and the City of London, De Lance-Holmes said, "People see Dubai [and other UAE states] as a low or zero tax jurisdiction, but it is an onshore jurisdiction and it is a place where business is actually taking place rather than a place where companies exist as a brass plate,"
He added that in a post-economic downturn world, low tax states are likely to continue to come under increasing international pressure as governments and tax authorities seek to prevent tax leakage...
Click here for the report from International Tax Review