Business tax director Chris le Breton, Assistant Comptroller Karen O’Brien and Deputy Comptroller David Le Cuirot.

JERSEY company directors and shareholders are being advised to engage the services of an accountant to make sure that they are complying with new corporate tax requirements.
 
Shareholders could also be at risk of being taxed twice, under the new zero-ten rules, it emerged last week during a presentation last week organised by the Jersey Chamber of Commerce.

David Le Cuirot, the Deputy Comptroller of Income Tax, explained the impact of the new zero/ten corporate tax provisions, which came into effect on 1 January.

Jersey residents who are company shareholders will need to apply the zero/ten guidelines to their forthcoming tax returns for 2010. Mr Le Cuirot said that previously the system had been relatively simple, with corporate tax set at 20%.

In future corporate tax would be zero per cent for trading companies, apart from utitlity companies (20%) and financial services companies (10%). He said the changes were ‘vital to secure the economy’, to comply with European Union demands and to combat competition from other finance centres.

• See Monday’s JEP for full story.