Govt continues to pursue tax havens

New Zealand has continued its pursuit of signing tax information sharing agreements with would be tax havens.

Revenue Minister Peter Dunne this morning announced agreements had been signed with British dependencies Jersey and the Isle of Man, in a ceremony in London overnight.

The agreements establish a system through which tax authorities can request tax and business information to prevent tax avoidance and evasion.

The agreements will come into force when both countries give legal effect to them, Mr Dunne said.

Last week New Zealand signed an agreement with other British dependency Guernsey.

This month an agreement was signed with the Cook Islands.

That country was previously on an Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) blacklist of uncooperative tax havens but was removed after pledging to improve its tax and regulatory systems.

NZPA