THE Isle of Man now has a Tax Information Exchange Agreement and a joint declaration with the Czech Republic.

Treasury Minister Anne Craine MHK and the Czech Ambassador Michael Zantovsky signed the agreement at the Czech Embassy in London yesterday (Monday). 

The Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) is the Isle of Man's 25th and is the 29th agreement that meets the OECD international standard on tax cooperation and transparency.

Minister Craine said: "The past month has seen the Isle of Man demonstrate very clearly the strength of its ongoing commitment to tax cooperation and transparency particularly with its neighbours in the European Union.  

"The TIEA with the Czech Republic I signed is the Isle of Man's 25th TIEA and its second with an EU member state in two weeks. The Isle of Man now has agreements signed with 15 EU member states and is actively negotiating with others. Equally important was last week's move by the Isle of Man to full automatic exchange of information under the EU Savings Directive."

The joint declaration which was also signed states the intention of both the Isle of Man and the Czech Republic to continue negotiations on measures to alleviate undesired tax barriers and other obstacles of a discriminatory nature that may be included in their domestic legislation. 

Both also stated their intention to commence negotiations to conclude a comprehensive double taxation agreement as soon as possible after the signed TIEA enters into force.