Cayman plans to double existing tax deals

| 26/03/2010

(CNS):  With 14 tax information exchange agreements (TIEAs) already in place the Cayman Islands has already exceeded the minimum requirement of the Organisation for Economic Development and Cooperation (OECD) but government has announced it intends to more than double the amount of agreements it already has. With sixteen more on the table Cayman will soon have more than 30tax deals with G-20 and OECD jurisdictions. Cayman has also advanced its work with the OECD Global Forum Steering Group, in reference to the recently announced peer review evaluation programme.

“The results of our negotiation programme along with the Negotiating Team’s deep involvement in helping shape international standards in tax transparency through active participation in key initiatives is commendable and has been recognised by the OECD and the global community,” said Premier McKeeva Bush. “We look forward to continuing this engagement and doing our part in demonstrating the effectiveness of our transparency regimes and our expertise as a jurisdiction.”

The Financial Services Secretariat said on Thursday that an agreement with Australia will be signed in Washington, D.C. on 30 March and agreements have been reached with 6 other countries  — Aruba, Canada, Germany, Italy, Mexico and South Africa. These agreements, which have been finalised from the Cayman Islands, are with the signatory countries for their authorisation process and confirmation of a signing date. In addition the secretariat said that negotiations are in various stages with 9 other OECD/G-20 countries.

The Cayman Islands delegation was able to provide the OECD Steering Group with input, guidance and direction on the methodology and terms of reference for the peer review programme. The Cayman Islands will also be an assessor for the peer review programme and a representative from the Ministry of Finance recently participated in the training, as organised by the OECD.

“In addition to having input on OECD’s peer review process, the Cayman Islands has been identified in the first cohort of countries to undergo a peer review evaluation. The Financial Services Secretariat, Ministry of Finance, is leading the first phase of this process with supervisory oversight by the Negotiating Team,” the secretariat said. “This phase of the peer review involves providing comprehensive information on the implementation of Cayman’s tax transparency regimes to OECD assessors, including relevant laws, regulations and guidance notes.”

Meanwhile, the law to formalize Cayman’s agreement with the Netherlands Antilles was tabled in the Legislative Assembly on Thursday 25 March.

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  1. Anonymous says:

    no we dnt tax

  2. Running on Empty says:

    Interesting article in Forbes:

    No. 1: Ireland

    Rise in unemployment rate from 2009: 4.4 percentage points

    Jobless rate: 13.8%

    They’re hungry. And I don’t believe it’s in our best interests for the Premier to go seeking pats on the head although he probably needs one given his popularity at home.   But what exactly is in for Cayman?  And who created these "lists"??  Black, White, Grey.  Has he read any of the fine print? Moreover does he even understand what he’s signed, or the implications to our financial services?  Most likely not.  He just likes to sign tings.

  3. tim ridley says:

    There can be no worthwhile double tax treaty with the United States, unless Cayman itself has domestic income, corporation, capital gains etc taxes. To-date, the community here has dismissed the faintest suggestion of any such moves. And whatever the impression given by the media, Switzerland and Ireland are far from being tax havens for individuals who actually live and work there, although there are indeed various benefits available for corporations and wealthy retirees.

    Double tax treaties are also a two edged sword. The more successful they are for one side, the more likely they are to get cancelled or amended by the other. Just ask the Netherlands Antilles that lost its hugely successful DTT with the US and Mauritius, that maybe about to lose its beneficial DTT with India.

  4. Anonymous says:

    Cayman is on the way out on the global finance stage.  This is partly because of the Hollywood myth (which was to be fair to be Hollywood caused by Cayman’s willingness to turn a blind eye to money laundering and tax evasion in the 70s, 80s and 90s) – this has turned into terrible PR for US companies post-recession, partly because of the complete lack of work done to support the industry between 2005 and 2009 and partly because taxes, duties and employment restrictions have made it too expensive to do business.

    My resume is ready and the interviews are about to begin. 

    I may be a rat jumping a sinking ship.  But I would rather be a jumping rat that stuck on this particular ship.

  5. Pass me another pen says:

    Walked by a financial building the other day.  The cars were lined up out front. Everyone was wearing green?? And yodelling?

  6. Anonymous says:

    What the point??? This is just spinning our wheels. What we need is a tax treaty with the US.  Read this article in The Royal Gazette dated 26 March 2010

    US House approves tax measure that would hit Island-based firms

  7. Anonymous says:

    Why are they bragging about this? This demonstrates a monumental lack of understanding of what is happening in the world and where the agenda that they have bought into leads. I am Caymanian and these idiots just keep on providing more reasons why my job is likely to leave here for Switzerland or Ireland.

    Given that the Premier’s total lack of action on violent crime will soon destroy our financial services industry in any event, it may be irrelevant to point out that the Great Premier’s pronouncements last spring that "Cayman does not need tax treaties" are proving to be as ludicrous as his solutions to the crime problem.

    While the LA was debating completely irrelevant matters over the past few days, (from the point of view of Cayman’s economy), the US Congress was passing a law to go after US companies that do business with the Cayman Islands, because we do not have a tax treaty with them.  Most other G20 jurisdictions that these idiots are signing these non-tax treaties with are looking at doing the same thing. Anybody who wants to read more can check out today’s Bermuda Royal Gazette.

    At least we know that the government is consistent. They have no idea of what they are doing domestically or internationally.