| tax 2002-04-04 |
| Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill signed an information-sharing agreement with the British Virgin Islands on Wednesday to help U.S. authorities crack down on the use of offshore tax havens to hide illegal money.
It marks the Bush administration's latest effort to open financial institutions to greater scrutiny to prevent tax evasion. The agreement comes as the Caribbean nation is being taken off a list of countries that the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris has identified as being havens for tax evaders. The organization said Wednesday it was taking the action because the country had pledged to open up its tax and regulatory systems to more scrutiny. The Bush administration has signed similar information-sharing agreements with the Bahamas, Antigua and Barbuda, and the Cayman Islands, countries also long considered tax havens. |
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