Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Isle of Man considers automatic exchange of information

The Isle of Man, one of Britain's Crown Dependencies, is considering whether to adopt automatic exchange of information, a move that TJN would greatly welcome, if it is done right. As IOM Today reports:

"A Treasury working party has been set up to look at whether automatic exchange of tax information should be introduced."


and, as background:

"The Isle of Man has so far signed 14 tax information exchange agreements, more than any other offshore jurisdiction and a tally that secured its place on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development a whitelist of co-operative countries. But currently such tax information is shared only on request.
. . .
At the moment non-residents can choose to exchange tax information or pay a withholding tax of 20 per cent on their savings interest, which is remitted back to their home country."


And, we are pleased to note:

"Now there are clear signs that the international agenda is moving towards automatic exchange, said Treasury Minister Allan Bell. . . . . . Automatic exchange was on the agenda when Mr Bell met with UK counterpart, Financial Secretary to the Treasury Stephen Timms, recently."

All of this is important progress. Anyone for Jersey? Guernsey? The Cayman Islands?

And don't forget that, even for developing countries, automatic exchange of information can work.

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