NEWS | Wednesday, 02 March 2008

13 years later, Malta–US initial new double-taxation treaty

Charlot Zahra

Malta and the United States (US) have initialled the text of a Treaty for the Avoidance of Double Taxation between the two countries, 13 years after a previous agreement was stopped by the US.
Tonio Fenech, Minister of Finance, Economy and Investment, initialled the Double-Taxation Treaty on behalf of the Maltese Government last Thursday, in the presence of US Ambassador Molly Bordonaro.
Michael Mundaca, who headed the US Treasury delegation in Malta, initialled the document on behalf of the United States.
Fenech told Business Today that this was the latest milestone reached in a process commenced with a meeting between Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi and President George Bush in 2005.
“It ends formal negotiations and prepares the treaty text agreed between the two countries for ratification through a United States Senate for Foreign Relations review and the Maltese Parliament,” he added.
Fenech said that the technical negotiations between the US Treasury representatives, which started two months ago, were tough and got stuck at times.
“However President Bush’s political will to push this Treaty through led to the interventions necessary to strike a deal between the two countries,” Fenech told Business Today.
Commenting on the agreement, the Finance Minister said the Double-Taxation Treaty “makes a welcome addition to Malta’s existing network of over 46 treaties and is significant because of the strengthening relationship and signals this provides to the business community in both the USA and Malta.”
Asked by Business Today whether the US had put joining the Partnership for Peace as a pre-condition for Malta before the US consented to this agreement, Fenech said: “Absolutely not.”
He said that in the past four years, Malta had already signed a Ship-boarding agreement with the US, “a clear sign of the excellent relationship that Malta and the US have developed over the past few years”.

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