Enhanced Monitoring Report on the Implementation of the Standard on Transparency and Exchange of Information on Request 2025

Dominica

Dominica joined the Global Forum in 2009. Dominica underwent its Second Round EOIR Peer Review in 2020 (Dominica’s 2020 Report),1 which assessed its legal and regulatory framework in force as at 17 September 2020 and its practical implementation, including in respect of EOI requests received and sent during the review period from 1 April 2016 to 31 March 2019. Dominica received an overall rating of Partially Compliant. Subsequently, Dominica underwent a Supplementary EOIR Peer Review in 2023 (Dominica’s 2023 Supplementary Report),2 which assessed its legal and regulatory framework in force as at 12 July 2023 and its practical implementation, including in respect of EOI requests received and sent during the review period from 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2022. Dominica received an overall rating of Largely Compliant and the individual Elements were rated as follows:

 

	A.1	A.2	A.3	B.1	B.2	C.1	C.2	C.3	C.4	C.5	Overall
Determinations	i.p.b.	i.p.	i.p.	i.p.	i.p.	i.p.	i.p.	i.p.	i.p.	n.a.	LC
Ratings	PC	PC	C	LC	C	C	C	C	C	LC

Status of implementation of recommendations issued in the peer review report

Dominica received seven in-box recommendations in relation to Elements A.1, A.2, B.1 and C.5.

This monitoring report assesses actions taken by Dominica to address the recommendations issued in its Supplementary EOIR Peer Review Report from 2023 and the peer input received for the monitoring period 2023-2024.

The report concludes that four recommendations “have not been addressed”, one recommendation is “in the process of being addressed” and two recommendations are “considered provisionally addressed in the context of the monitoring process, subject to detailed validation”, and it advises on actions required.

Element A.1: Availability of ownership and identity information

1. Availability of beneficial ownership information with AML-obliged persons

 

Recommendation (A.1, framework)	Dominica is recommended to ensure the availability of adequate, accurate and up-to-date information on the beneficial owners of all relevant entities and arrangements in accordance with the standard.
Underlying factor	The AML/CFT framework is the only source of beneficial ownership information of companies, partnerships and trusts in Dominica. However, there is no legal requirement to ensure that all entities have an ongoing relationship with an AML-obliged person, thus beneficial ownership information may not be available for all relevant entities and arrangements.
Summary of actions reported	Dominica reported that legislative changes are in process and personnel to work on the recommendation are being allocated. No specific details on the changes have been indicated.
Conclusion	Dominica has taken preliminary steps to address the recommendation, but no material progress has been reported. It is urged to make substantive progress before its next self-assessment.
Status determined	Has not been addressed
Actions required	In the next self-assessment, Dominica should – Provide specific information on the changes in the legal framework and share the amended legislative text. Explain how these changes address the identified gap. Provide information, to the extent available, on the implementation of the legislative changes in practice.

2. Availability of information on nominators

 

Recommendation (A.1, framework)	Dominica is recommended to ensure that all nominee shareholders disclose their status, as well as the information on the nominator, to the company.
Underlying factor	Pursuant to Dominica’s legal and regulatory framework, where a legal owner acts on behalf of another person as a nominee or under a similar arrangement, the identification of that other person (the nominator) is not required in all cases but only where that other person (the nominator) holds at least 10% of the voting rights of a company, or otherwise is a beneficial owner of a company that has a business relationship with an AML-obliged person.
Summary of actions reported	Dominica reported that legislative changes are in process and personnel to work on the recommendation is to be allocated. No specific details on the changes have been indicated.
Conclusion	Dominica has taken preliminary steps to address the recommendation, but no material progress has been reported. It is urged to make substantive progress before its next self-assessment.
Status determined	Has not been addressed
Actions required	In the next self-assessment, Dominica should – Provide specific information on the changes in the legal framework and share the amended legislative text. Explain how these changes address the identified gap. Provide information, to the extent available, on the implementation of the legislative changes in practice.

3. Monitoring of shareholder registers

 

Recommendation (A.1, practice)	Dominica is recommended to implement a regular and comprehensive monitoring system to ensure compliance by all relevant entities with obligations to maintain legal ownership information under Dominica’s law.
Underlying factor	While the register of shareholders is the only source of legal ownership information that must be always up to date, the Registrar of Companies still does not conduct any verifications nor has imposed sanctions in respect of the entities’ obligation of keeping a register of shareholders and the verifications conducted by the tax authorities are not adequate to compensate [for] the lack of supervision by the Registrar.
Summary of actions reported	Dominica has not reported any supervisory activities.
Conclusion	No progress has been reported on addressing the recommendation. Dominica is urged to address the recommendation and report substantive progress in its next self-assessment.
Status determined	Has not been addressed
Actions required	In the next self-assessment, Dominica should – Report specific information on supervisory and enforcement actions implemented to ensure that entities are keeping up-to-date registers of shareholders.

Element A.2: Availability of accounting information

4. Strengthening supervision and enforcement practice

 

Recommendation (A.2, practice)	Dominica is recommended to enhance its monitoring and enforcement practice to ensure the availability of accounting records for domestic and foreign legal entities and arrangements, including for those that have ceased to exist.
Underlying factor	The availability of accounting information is provided for by a combination of corporate law and tax law requirements and is overseen by the tax authority. However, the level of compliance with the annual tax filing obligation is very low and is not compensated by the level of verification activities carried out and sanctions imposed by the tax authority. This raise[s] concerns in respect to the availability of accounting information in accordance with the standard.
Summary of actions reported	No actions have been reported.
Conclusion	No progress has been reported on addressing the recommendation. Dominica is urged to address the recommendation and report substantive progress in its next self-assessment.
Status determined	Has not been addressed
Actions required	In the next self-assessment, Dominica should – Provide detailed information on the Inland Revenue Division’s verification activities and any other measures implemented to ensure availability of accounting records of all relevant legal entities and arrangements, including those that ceased to exist.

Element B.1: Access to information

5. Effective access to information held by lawyers and accountants

 

Recommendation (B.1, practice)	Dominica should monitor access to information held by professionals who can claim legal professional or other professional secrecy obligations, so that the requested information can be obtained in line with the standard.
Underlying factor	Although there are sufficient general access powers available to the tax authorities which seem to allow access to information held by legal professionals and accountants, the interaction of these powers with professional secrecy has not been tested in practice. This concern is strengthened by the fact that the representatives of the lawyers and accountants did not clearly indicate that they would in practice be in position to provide information to the tax authorities when requested.
Summary of actions reported	The Tax Information Exchange Act was amended in 2024 to align the definition of legal privilege with the standard. The amended provisions were not tested in practice, as the received EOI requests did not require accessing information held by lawyers.
Conclusion	Dominica has made progress to address the recommendation by narrowing the definition of legal privilege. Furthermore, there were no EOI requests requiring access to information held by lawyers/accountants. Therefore, the amended provision remains untested.
Status determined	In the process of being addressed
Actions required	In the next self-assessment, Dominica should – Provide information on the practical steps taken to ensure that the recent legal amendment is understood in line with the standard by legal professionals in the context of EOI requests. Provide information on the steps taken to address the recommendation as it applies to accountants.

Element C.5: Effective exchange of information

6. Up-to-date contact details of the Competent Authority

 

Recommendation (C.5, practice)	Dominica should ensure that the contact details of the competent authority are up to date and available to its EOIR partners at all times.
Underlying factor	Dominica’s failure to update the information on the contact detail[s] of the competent authority in a timely manner hampered communications with an EOIR partner, as well as Dominica’s ability to receive a request for information.
Summary of actions reported	Contact details in the Global Forum’s secure database are up to date.
Conclusion	Dominica appears to have taken appropriate actions to address the recommendation.
Status determined	Considered provisionally addressed in the context of the monitoring process, subject to detailed validation
Actions required	No immediate actions required.

7. Effective implementation of the organisational processes

 

Recommendation (C.5, practice)	Dominica should monitor the practical implementation of the organisational processes and resources of its EOI Unit to ensure that they are sufficient at all times for effective EOI in practice.
Underlying factor	Dominica has put in place the necessary processes and resources to allow effective exchange of information. However, there has not been a substantive number of cases in practice to test their effectiveness.
Summary of actions reported	Dominica has indicated that all necessary processes and resources are in place to allow for effective exchange of information. Dominica reported that it replied to all nine EOI requests received within 90 days.
Conclusion	Dominica appears to have taken appropriate actions to address the recommendation. The allocated resources have been adequate and have not undergone any changes. All requests received were answered within 90 days. The peers have not raised any issues with the quality of responses.
Status determined	Considered provisionally addressed in the context of the monitoring process, subject to detailed validation
Actions required	No immediate action required. Nevertheless, Dominica should provide updated timeliness statistics for the corresponding monitoring period, according to paragraph 29 of the Methodology for Enhanced Monitoring.

EOIR experience

Over the monitoring period, Dominica received nine requests and did not send any requests. Romania, Spain and France were the top three treaty partners in respect of incoming requests. Dominica reported providing full and final responses in 100% of all the received requests within 90 days.

Seven peers provided peer input on Dominica. Three key partners confirmed positive EOIR experience with Dominica. Four other peers that provided input had not had any EOI exchanges with Dominica during the monitoring period and none has raised any issue.

New developments having a bearing on the EOIR standard

No new developments that could have a bearing on the EOIR standard (other than those reported to address recommendations) have been reported by Dominica or have otherwise come to light.

Next steps

Dominica should continue taking actions towards implementing the standard effectively.

The following next steps are expected from Dominica:

• Submit the next full self-assessment in 2028 under the second round of enhanced monitoring.

• See also Chapter 1 (Scope and Methodology), section on “PRMG decisions – Statuses determined and actions required”, which explains the next steps expected on recommendations that are “considered provisionally addressed in the context of the monitoring process, subject to detailed validation”.

Views/response of the monitored jurisdiction

On behalf of the Government of Dominica, we are pleased to confirm our satisfaction with the Enhanced Monitoring Report. We are committed to addressing the recommendations promptly and will take the necessary steps to ensure continuous improvement in line with international standards. Looking ahead, we are fully dedicated to preparing for the next assessment in 2028 and will continue to strengthen our systems and practices to maintain our compliance.

Notes

← 1.  OECD (2020), Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes: Dominica 2020 (Second Round): Peer Review Report on the Exchange of Information on Request, Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/b6dd4a18-en.

← 2.  OECD (2023), Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes: Dominica 2023 (Second Round, Supplementary Report): Peer Review Report on the Exchange of Information on Request, Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/7624ec12-en.