UK minister says Bermuda isn’t a tax haven
(Royal Gazette): Bermuda is the “jewel in the crown” of the British Overseas Territories and is not a tax haven, according to the UK Minister with responsibility for the Island. Henry Bellingham, the Parliamentary Undersecretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, told The Royal Gazette that Bermuda’s economic success was the envy of many countries and that Britain might “do well to observe the successes of Bermuda’s fiscal system”. Bermuda’s low taxes were a feature of its economic success, he added, and people who described it as a “tax haven” were missing the point. Two years ago, former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown promised at the G-20 summit in London that clampdowns on offshore financial centres would be the beginning of the end for tax havens.
“I think the whole argument of offshore havens has really run its course,” Bellingham said. “I wouldn’t describe Bermuda as a tax haven, I’d describe Bermuda as being a very well run country that is able to have low taxes because it’s got a very strong economy that is able to deliver enough wealth and prosperity to supply services like schools, health, law and order all the essential services a country needs.”
Category: World News
The UK likes Bermuda because they have accepted the need for direct taxation, albeit at a very low level, and that means it is far harder for employers there to pull all the scams their counterparts here pull like non-payment of pension and health insurance contributions.
The key phrase is ‘a very well run country’ and that’s exactly what the OT Minister does not see in the Cayman Islands.
So it’s not our size that hinders us but our less intelligent/educated leaders.