• Submitted by: manso
• Politics and Government
• 12 / 27 / 2010

---

Cuba and the United States reached an agreement with money transfer company Western Union to eliminate the taxes that were previously imposed for remittances in Cuban convertible pesos, according to the BBC news agency.

According to that source, the measure came into affect last week but was made public when the US Treasury Department’s International Affairs office sent out a resolution authorizing that type of transaction.

Western Union employees in Cuba, cited by the BBC, said that the number of money transfers from immigrants in the US rose significantly when the news was confirmed.

Before the measure went into effect, Cubans who received money from family members that had left for the United States had to pay a 10 percent tax when changing US dollars to Cuban convertible pesos. The reform eliminates that tax.

The Cuban government also benefits from the measure: US dollars are received upon arrival and the government no longer has to wait for recipients to Exchange them. On the other hand, the US now has more control over money transfers from that country to Cuba.

Source:www.buenosairesherald.com/article/54922/