August 13th, 2009
I have been chased by journalists (all from outside the UK) today asking what the UK decision to force offshore banks to disclose details of account holders to HM Revenue & Customs might mean. The Swiss are particularly keen.
The honest answer is, of course, that we do not yet know.
The most likely answer is that it depends on two things – first whether the banks appeal and succeed in doing so and second how far the UK is willing to go to enforce this.
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August 12th, 2009
Associated press were one of the many agencies I spoke to yesterday (some of whom have given no credit for the data supplied – such is life). They have a story that in
one incarnation is here:
Liechtenstein’s agreement to help Britain recover taxes on wealth hidden away in the tiny Alpine principality by U.K. taxpayers is only the latest sign that traditional tax havens are yielding to governments hungry for extra revenue during the economic crisis.
"The agreement signed today is a very significant development," said Jeffrey Owens,...
August 11th, 2009
I’m not going to get over-excited, I hope, but I think the new
UK / Liechtenstein Tax Information Exchange Agreement moves information exchange into a new era.
This deal is like no other Tax Information Exchange Agreement. Take
this from the preamble:
The Government of the Principality of Liechtenstein and the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (together “the Contracting Parties”) desiring to:
(a) regulate the exchange of information with respect to taxes between the Contracting Parties and facilitate tax cooperation and taxpayer assistance, and
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August 10th, 2009
The OECD is holding a meeting of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information on September 1-2 in Los Cabos, Mexico.
There are three objectives. The first is to discuss creating new ways of concluding Tax Information Exchange Agreements.
The second is to decide whether the Cayman and St Kitts & Nevis legislation that allows unilateral information exchange is acceptable for information exchange purposes.
The third is to set up a peer review monitoring group on information exchange.
Documents on the first two agenda items
are here. The document on monitoring
is here.
