Island races to meet tax agreements as G20 summit looms
Wednesday 18th March 2009, 1:00PM GMT.
GUERNSEY is racing to sign more agreements to share tax information with others jurisdictions as it looks to escape being black-listed by the G20.
The OECD has produced a list ahead of the G20 meeting on 2 April naming jurisdictions which it considers are not currently making sufficient progress to carrying out an agreed international standard on transparency and exchange of information.
Swiss daily newspaper Tages Anzeiger reported that OECD secretary-general Angel Gurria, in a letter dated 5 March to Chancellor Alistair Darling, provided a list of 46 countries and territories that included Guernsey and Jersey.
States tax adviser Jonathan Hooley said that inclusion on the OECD list just meant the island had not signed 12 tax information exchange agreements.
‘There are indications that when you get to that figure that you are regarded as being substantially compliant.
‘However, what the G20 wants to do, and where it will draw the line, isn’t clear at this stage,’ said Mr Hooley.
‘There’s discussion about having 12 agreements, Guernsey on the 5 March had 10, so did Jersey, but by the end of this month we will have 13.’
The Isle of Man is not on the list because it has already passed 12.
‘It’s clear that the G20 wants to encourage jurisdictions to move toward greater transparency and Guernsey has been moving in that direction for some time. We have achieved a very high degree of it in terms of measures to do with the number of TIEAs,’ said Mr Hooley.
Mr Gurria said that in the current crisis it was important to assure honest taxpayers that tax burdens were being fairly shared.
‘Improvements in exchange of information in tax matters are part of a broader agenda to improve transparency and global governance and to restore confidence in financial markets,’ he added.
- To read Guernsey Press stories in full, click here for subscription details. Individual editions are now available online.
Campaigns
Voice For Victims
Voice for Victims is a campaign aimed at promoting the rights of those affected by child sexual abuse.
This is Guernsey
Guernsey Press
We are being black-listed by the G20 and tax burdens are currently unfairly shared, ‘ipso factorious, happy and glorious, long to rain down on us, tax will ruin us all’.
Report abuse
We shouldn’t be tripping over ourselves to pass the 12 tax information exchange agreements to comply on a points system.The Channel Islands were actively encouraged by succesive UK Governments over many years to act as havens for foreign income to bolster sterling.Time that the Duchy of Normandy formed an independent alliance.Loyal to our Queen and yet free of control from Westminster and the EU.
Report abuse
I see the Isle of man is not on the OECD list.
Odd, because the Isle of Man is seen by the US as one of the naughtier of tax havens!!!
Report abuse
What happens when Guernsey has signed up with everyone but still grabs a lot of business due to the expertise and habit!!
I guess the Trust’s will be hit next, but surely the UK/EU need to get there own zones in order first, the name Mandleson springs to mind.
Report abuse
Stephen John
The Isle of Man is on the list of 46 tax havens. However, only three have been blacklisted: Andorra, Monaco and Liechtenstein.
There is also an unofficial list of 11 that haven’t signed any TIEAs or DTAs.
The G20 may – or may not – publish a new list of so called unco-operative tax havens, which is why they’re all rushing to sign
TIEAs.
Nobody wants to be on any new blacklist and… oh yes, I nearly forgot, there’s also a list of tax havens included in the Obama Levin ‘Stop Tax Haven Abuse’ Act.
So there are lists and lists and lists. And I’m afraid Guernsey is in most of them.
But there is one list where it stands on its own: being the only country not to help stricken savers.
Report abuse
MJA
I feel we are making the same point about lists.
The point I was making is that the headline post makes the point that the Isle of Man was not on the OECD list, but that the US still sees the isle of Man as amongst the baddies of tax havens, as you will see from the Stop the Tax havens documents.
Again you are correct in that Guernsey has done nothing to persuade the local banks to help the LG depositors.
I would have thought the cost would be a small proportion of the £80million tax windfall the Guernsey finance industry receives from the taxpayer each year.
I say from the taxpayer, because the taxpayer and or taxpayer owned reserves, have to make up the Black Hole deficit.
Report abuse
Dear Stephen John
“Angel Gurria, in a letter dated 5 March to Chancellor Alistair Darling, provided a list of 46 countries and territories that included Guernsey and Jersey”.
Did not mention Isle of Man, but IoM is definitely on the list. However, this is not a blacklist but, rather, a list of all offshore finance centres.
The blacklist only lists three countries: Lie, Mon and And.
Whether or not the G20 produce a new blacklist with many more countries on it remains to be seen. If they do, the three Crown Dependencies are bound to be on it.
Best regards
MJA
Report abuse