Singapore and France signed a revision on their existing Agreement for the Avoidance of Double Taxation (DTA) last week.
The signing took place in Singapore between Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, and his French counterpart, Mr Michel Sapin.
The new agreement provides more business-friendly features for companies in both countries, such as lower withholding tax rates for dividends to promote trade and investment flows.
It also includes anti-abuse measures in a bid to tackle potential tax evasion and avoidance by French companies in the city-state. Singapore is the top destination in Asia for French companies and professionals to invest and work. Up to 15,000 French nationals currently live in the Asian financial hub.
A renowned place for international business, Singapore’s political stability, sound economy and corruption-free government has continued to attract substantive businesses to its shores. Over the years, Singapore has built an extensive network of international agreements that further enhances its attractiveness for investment holding.
There are more than 74 Avoidance of Double Taxation Agreements (DTAs), 41 Investment Guarantee Agreements (IGAs) and 21 Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) or Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) in force between Singapore and another country. The pro-commerce mindset of Singapore government makes it the preferred location for trade and investment in ASEAN.
Singapore is now updating the network of DTAs to reflect the country’s firm stand in its commitment to work closely with the global tax community to fight cross-border tax evasion, while striving to achieve the government’s fiscal, economic and social objectives.
Beyond the revision of DTA with France, Singapore has committed to implement the new global standard on automatic exchange of tax data between all countries by 2018.
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