Treasury Minister Philip Ozouf
Jersey has plans to move to automatic exchange of tax information by 2011.
The Manx authorities have announced that they will move to automatic tax information exchange – a system which contrasts with this Island’s present approach based on signing Tax Information Exchange Agreements with separate jurisdictions – by July 2011.
However, Treasury Minister Philip Ozouf has revealed that Jersey is already committed to the introduction of automatic information exchange mechanisms by January 2011.
The Isle of Man’s announcement is seen as an attempt to pre-empt tougher disclosure rules that offshore financial centres could be forced to follow because of European Union initiatives. Notoriously secretive jurisdictions such as Switzerland have already bowed to pressure for greater banking openness.
Article posted on 26th June, 2009 - 3.00pm
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Recently UK politician Lord Foulkes asked HMG in the House of Lords the following:
“What is their forecast of the revenue lost to HM Treasury through the use of the Channel Islands for avoiding the payment of United Kingdom tax.”
Reading the exchange in Hansard all I could gather is that HMG, together with other states and governments that is anxious to destroy economic activity by extracting as much tax as they can manage, are trying to think of all sorts of schemes whereby “tax havens” such as Jersey will in effect be shut down – regardles of the effects this will have on our economy.
What was not mentioned was that there might actually be another solution to the problem and that is lower taxation in the UK. That, on the other hand, would undermine the assumption on which much of the debate was conducted: that, somehow, HMG (or any other government) has an undeniable right to people’s earnings to do whatever they see fit to do with it. Additionaly UK politicians have an irestable desire to interfear in Jersey’s largest industry; finance.
Another unmentioned aspect was the curious fact that members of what is known as “Another Place”, to wit the House of Commons, had, at various times, voted themselves substantial salary increases, which they called expenses in order not to pay taxes on them. Behavior of that kind would be frowned upon if indulged in by others.
There are, of course, no salaries except for Ministers, in the House of Lords, and the expenses are minimal. Lord Foulkes, one assumes, is paid as Member of the Scottish Parliament. For all of that, his was one of the few names in the Upper House that cropped up in the course of the recent unpleasantness since in 2008, Foulkes had been criticised for his expenses claims, which included around £45,000 over a period of two years for overnight subsistence to stay in a flat he had inherited. Between April 2007 and March 2008, Foulkes claimed £54,527 in expenses from the House of Lords.
The words houses, glass and stones spring to mind.
Peter Troy St Saviour Jersey
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Peter Troy makes a good point. Are States Members aware of the flood of extra financial regulation that is about to effect Jersey’s finance industry? I do not remember reading about it in the JEP and I can not recall a mention of it by politicians!
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