“The party is over” – Colombia takes action on tax evasion and imposes 33% surtax on “hit list” countries

By Christine Duhaime | October 8th, 2013

Party is over says Colombia Minister of Finance

The government of Colombia is imposing a 33% surtax on assets moved out of the country by its nationals to known tax havens. The surtax will be assessed against individuals and corporations to curb the exodus of funds out of Colombia. The government estimates that the value of annual lost tax revenues from the illicit flow of funds to tax havens is $10.6 billion.

The party is over,” said Colombia’s Finance Minister, in announcing the creation and publication of a “hit list” of 44 nations that are tax havens which include the Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands, Jersey, Isle of Man, Hong Kong, Bahrain and Antigua and Barbuda. Assets moved to “hit list” countries will be targeted for investigation by Colombia and assessed the surtax.

Colombia is one of the few countries in the world that have experienced real GDP growth in the past ten years.

Besides the exodus of wealth, the government estimates further that the amount laundered from Colombia annually is about $17 billion, mostly from proceeds of crime arising from drug trafficking, arms dealing and human trafficking.

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