Britain signs tax agreement with Cayman Islands
UK FATCA Signing Remarks for
The Cayman Islands Premier, the Hon. Alden McLaughlin
Tuesday, 5 November 2013
Minister for Overseas Territories, Mark Simmonds;
Her Excellency the Governor, Ms Helen Kilpatrick;
Government Colleagues, and Guests;
Today is a significant day, as the Cayman Islands and the UK sign an agreement to improve international tax compliance. This FATCA-style agreement will enable Cayman to share, automatically, financial information with the UK on UK taxpayers who hold accounts in the Cayman Islands.
This builds on our shared history of cooperation in tax and transparency matters. But it also strongly indicates our mutual support for standards, across the spectrum of financial services, that are globally accepted and practiced. Such standards, including those adhered to and monitored by the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes, will improve the integrity and stability of all of our economies by giving tax cheats no country in which to hide.
Indeed, Cayman and the UK are standing shoulder-to-shoulder, as part of the vanguard, to improve tax compliance globally. Cayman is able to do this based on our strong engagement and activity in tax and transparency initiatives, which did not suddenly commence in recent months and weeks. On the contrary; our ability to respond quickly, credibly and responsibly to developments is the tangible result of more than a decade of purposeful engagement, and the knowledge and insights that it has provided to successive governments, including this one.
This ability to respond also is based on effective consultation with our financial services industry, which is equally important. Government is pleased to have industry’s support for this agreement with the UK, as the world moves rapidly toward automatic exchange as the global standard.
(Pause) Minister Simmonds, thank you for attending this signing. It is my pleasure to invite you to address Members of my Cabinet, and our guests.
END
HMT – UK Her Majesty’s Treasury : Cayman Islands signs tax information exchange agreement
The UK has today – Tuesday 5 November 2013 – signed an automatic tax information sharing agreement with the Cayman Islands.
Following the commitment of all the Overseas Territories earlier this year to sign such agreements, the Cayman Islands are the first Overseas Territory to formalise their agreement with the UK.
Our interactive timeline gives an overview of what the government is doing internationally to reduce tax avoidance and evasion.
An important step towards the new global standard to be agreed early next year, financial information on UK taxpayers with accounts in the Cayman Islands will now be automatically provided to HM Revenue & Customs.
This will help HMRC to ensure that the correct amount of tax is being paid by those with money in Cayman Islands accounts and increase HMRC’s ability to clamp down on tax evasion.
The announcement follows the agreements signed between the UK and the Crown Dependencies of the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey in October.
The Cayman Islands have also agreed to be part of the G5 multi-lateral information sharing pilot. Initially agreed between the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, the Cayman Islands will join these countries in automatically exchanging information about bank accounts held by taxpayers from their jurisdictions.
In total, 31 jurisdictions have now joined the initiative.
Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, said:
The UK has led the way in creating a new global standard for tax transparency and automatic tax information sharing. This was at the heart of our G8 agenda this year and today’s agreement builds on the progress we have already made.
We welcome this signing with the Cayman Islands, the first Overseas Territory to sign this type of agreement with the UK. This demonstrates our shared commitment to tackling tax evasion.
Alongside the significant investment that the government has made in HMRC’s anti-avoidance and evasion work, these agreements will help them to clamp down further on those individuals who seek to hide their assets offshore.
Our message is very clear: it is only fair that people pay the tax they owe. If you are trying to evade tax, we are coming after you.
The UK put tax and transparency at the heart of the G8 agenda during its chairmanship in 2013. At the summit in July, leaders from the world’s largest eight economies agreed on coordinated action to combat tax evasion and avoidance. This work is being taken forward by the OECD.
Related story:
Watch out you Cayman Island sunbathers, UK’s Osborne is after you
By Ryan Littlestone From forexlive
UK chancellor George Osborne will be signing a tax agreement with the Cayman Islands for the benefit of collecting tax information. In parliament he said today:
“As a result information on UK taxpayers held in the Cayman Islands will automatically be provided to HMRC (Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs) who will use it to collect the tax that is due.”
I can see the bailiffs fighting over each other to to serve summonses on those addresses
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