Japan, Bermuda Agree to Exchange Tax Information

Tokyo, Feb. 2 (Jiji Press)--Japan and Bermuda signed an agreement Tuesday allowing their governments to exchange tax information held by financial institutions to prevent cross-border tax evasion.

The Japanese government hopes to win parliamentary approval of the
agreement in the ongoing ordinary session of the Diet, or parliament, and
bring it into effect in the summer.
By gaining access to tax information in Bermuda, a British
territory known as a tax haven, Japan hopes to prevent wealthy nationals
from dodging taxes by concealing their assets in Bermudan banks.
The signing of the treaty is part of an international effort to
tackle the problem of tax havens, which attract funds from around the world
through extremely low tax rates and strict confidentiality.
The international community has stressed the importance of
implementing stricter measures against tax havens in meetings such as the
Group of 20 financial summit.