The governments of Spain and the United States take a further step to avoid double taxation and facilitate investment between both countries.
The Spanish Minister for the Treasury, Cristóbal Montoro, and the US ambassador to Spain, Alan D. Solomont, signed a modification protocol to the agreement in order to avoid double taxation for American companies looking to invest in Spain, or for Spanish companies wishing to do the same in the United States. Moreover, there is hope that the signing of this protocol will also improve an exchange of information between both countries.
This new document must now be ratified by both national parliaments with a view to it coming into force no later than three months after its endorsement. The protocol modifies 14 of the 24 articles in the agreement. Therein, both countries have agreed to afford the other better treatment as regards investments, reducing the tax burden on dividends and increasing the range of the reduced rate bracket and tax exemption circumstances.
The United States continues to be one of Spain's main investors, registering investments to the order of 43,926 million. In 2011, Spain was the seventh ranked European country to receive American investments, behind such countries as The Netherlands, Luxembourg, The United Kingdom, Ireland, Switzerland and Germany. Indeed, it stands in fifteenth position in terms of American investment worldwide.
American foreign investment focuses on the following sectors: technology, finance and service industries, which are normally based in developed countries that have advanced infrastructures and good communications systems.
The United States has become the biggest green field investor in the world. From 2003 to 2012, it has undertaken 29,571 projects, representing an investment of over €1,200,000. China is where America has invested most in green field projects, with Spain holding fifth position among the European economies in this area and fourteenth position worldwide.
The following are other sectors that attract great interest from American investment projects: Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), which account for 21% of all their projects, Business Services which represent 11.5% of their investments and finally Financial Services which take up 6.4% of their total foreign investment activities.