837.512/11–3044
The Ambassador in Cuba (Braden) to the Secretary of State
Sir: In response to the Department’s air mail instruction no. 4432 of September 5, 1944 (file no. 837.512/8–2444), I have the honor to enclose a summary, prepared by Foreign Service Clerk Clarisse Dubreuil, of the undertakings of an economic nature of various agencies of our Government in Cuba and their tax status,49 which will be supplemented by a similar statement covering the military and naval projects of our Government.
While the Cuban Government, in its note no. 1125 of November 14, 1942,49 recognized the principle that one sovereign government should not tax another sovereign government (please see the Embassy’s despatch no. 1567 of November 20, 194250), it has, despite the Embassy’s representations, never issued a blanket tax exemption covering all our Government’s undertakings in Cuba.
In response to specific requests from the Embassy, however, it has, by decree, resolution or otherwise, granted complete tax exemption to each of the several undertakings, with only few exceptions. These exceptions, as the Department is aware, refer to the 2.75 percent and 3.60 percent taxes on the gross revenues obtained in Cuba by vessels owned by or chartered to the War Shipping Administration; the 2.75 percent gross sales tax on the construction of the Nicaro Nickel Company’s nickel oxide plant at Lengua de Pájaro, Oriente; and the 2 percent export tax on the reexportation of certain equipment used in the construction of the Nicaro project which had been acquired on a loan or rental basis. The Embassy is continuing its efforts to obtain the desired exemptions in these particular cases.
Respectfully yours,
Counselor of Embassy for Economic Affairs
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- Despatch 1567, Foreign Relations, 1943, vol. vi, p. 259, contains a more detailed treatment of note 1125.↩