UK Requests Information from Tax Havens
Eltoma Corporate Services has issued a statement to its clients advising them of upcoming efforts by the UK request information from tax have domiciles. The statement reads as follows:
Tax Havens are under threat
Britain which is hosting G8 meeting in June is taking actions to curb tax evasion around the world. The British Prime Minister has sent letters to traditional tax haven jurisdictions requesting them to participate in exchange of information on who is standing behind each tax haven company. The information on actual beneficiaries has to be made available to law enforcement agencies and tax authorities upon their requests. In particular, the letter was sent to Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, Gibraltar, Anguilla, Montserrat, Turks and Caicos Islands, Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man.
We can clearly see a real change in attitude toward tax havens and increasing pressure from the USA and EU. A statement made by the British Prime Minister is that it is impossible to fight tax evasion in an individual country but the fight is to be taken on a global basis.
It is obvious that it will take some time to implement an exchange of information. For example, a decision on unified European approach to tax evasion has failed on a latest meeting of European Finance Ministers in Brussels.
Meanwhile, it is worthwhile to start considering low tax jurisdictions like Singapore, Hong Kong or Cyprus to avoid an unpleasant experience with a tax authority over disclosure in tax havens. Time has come to pay something.
