1. The Ministry of Finance (MOF) invited comments and views on Singapore's Avoidance of Double Taxation Agreements (DTAs) in conjunction with its annual review of DTA policies.

2. DTAs, or tax treaties, are part of the basic infrastructure of the global marketplace. Tax treaties set out clear ground rules that will govern tax matters relating to trade and investment between two countries. With these clear rules, tax treaties protect taxpayers from potential double taxation, and in doing so, allow international trade and investment to flourish.

3. Singapore currently has a network of 51 comprehensive and 7 limited bilateral income tax treaties. The network covers the majority of Singapore's current trading partners. However, as the business environment and countries' tax laws are constantly changing, our DTA network requires constant updating to serve its purpose.

SCOPE OF CONSULTATION EXERCISE

4. The Ministry of Finance is in the midst of prioritising its tax treaty negotiations programme for the coming year. MOF invited the public to give feedback on how Singapore's current network of tax treaties can be improved and on the countries which Singapore should be initiating tax treaty negotiations with.

PERIOD OF CONSULTATION

5. The public consultation was held from 15 Apr 2006 to 31 May 2006. We are sorry that comments after the deadline will not be considered.

USEFUL DOCUMENTS/WEB-LINKS

6. For your convenience, the relevant information relating to this public consultation exercise can be found through the link below.