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Dear Colleague,
This week:
I hope you find this update useful.
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Kate James |
Tax-News.com
Headlines
Alliance
And Leicester Shortlisted For Offshore Award,
by Carla Johnson, Investors Offshore.com Thursday,
May 01, 2008 |
| Alliance and Leicester
International, the Isle of Man based offshore savings bank,
has been shortlisted for an award by leading finance guide,
Moneyfacts, it announced this week. [
FULL
STORY ] |
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UK
Lawmakers Launch Offshore Inquiry,
by Robert Lee, Tax-News.com, London Thursday,
May 01, 2008 |
| The House of Commons
Treasury Committee has announced that it is to undertake an
inquiry into offshore financial centres and their impact on
global business and investment, and the international fight
against money laundering. [
FULL
STORY ] |
 |
UBM
Opts To Pay Tax In Ireland,
by Jason Gorringe, Tax-News.com, London Thursday,
May 01, 2008 |
| United Business Media
plc (UBM) has announced plans to relocate its tax residency
from the UK to Ireland to take advantage of the latter country's
'less complex system of taxation. [
FULL
STORY ] |
 |
Luxembourg
Hedge Fund Guide Published,,
by Phillip Morton, Investors Offshore.com Thursday,
May 01, 2008 |
| Big four accountancy
and advisory firm Ernst and Young has published the first edition
of Hedge Funds in Luxembourg – a technical guide.
[ FULL
STORY ] |
 |
Industry
Must Pass On Duty Cuts To Consumers, Says Indian PM,
by Lorys Charalambous, for LawAndTax-News.com, Cyprus Wednesday,
April 30, 2008 |
| India's Prime Minister,
Dr Manmohan Singh, on Tuesday called on businesses to take steps
to absorb the rise in input costs in order to maintain price
stability, and stressed that they must also pass on the benefits
of tax and duty cuts to consumers. [
FULL
STORY ] |
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ACCA
Issues PAYE Deadline Reminder,
by Jason Gorringe, Tax-News.com, London Wednesday,
April 30, 2008 |
| The
UK's Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) has
issued a reminder to businesses this week that the annual PAYE
return deadline falls on 19th May, 2008. [
FULL
STORY ] |
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Offshore
British Virgin Islands
The British Virgin Islands are an English-speaking
Dependent Territory of the United Kingdom, located in the Caribbean
off Puerto Rico. The BVI is politically stable; under the 1967 constitution,
the Governor represents the Queen and heads an Executive Council.
There is a 13-member elected Legislative Council.
Until 2005 the only significant tax in the BVI was income tax, which
applied to the relatively few local companies and to individuals;
there are customs duties and some real estate taxes. The population
of 23,000 (2006) is of mixed European and Caribbean origin. There
is minor tension between the settled population and recently-arrived
Caribbean economic migrants. The economy is highly dependent on tourism,
with financial services also important. In 2004 the government abolished
income tax for companies and individuals, replacing it with a 'payroll'
tax, shared between companies and employees.
While there is no pressure for major constitutional
change, in 2002 the BVI Government said it wanted to increase its
establishment and asked for some of the Governor's powers to be transferred
over, recognising the BVI's 'constitutional maturity and prudential
system of government'. At the end of February 2007, the UK and the
BVI government successfully completed negotiations for a new constitution
for the islands. Described by Lord Triesman, British Minister responsible
for the Overseas Territories, "as an important step forward for
the territory," the new constitution devolves significant new
powers to the BVI Government. The local currency is the US Dollar,
and there are no exchange controls.
The BVI introduced its outstandingly successful International Business
Company (IBC) in 1984, and by the time the Act was superseded by the
BVI Business Companies Act 2004, which effectively removed the distinction
between 'offshore' and 'onshore' companies, well over 600,000 had
registered in the jurisdiction, Hong Kong and Latin America being
the main sources of clients. The BVI has significant mutual fund and
captive insurance sectors. Banking activity is, by design, quite minor.
The BVI has tried hard to exclude money-laundering, mostly with success,
and has a relatively good reputation.
In 2002 the BVI introduced a Financial Services Commission to ensure
independent and effective supervision of financial institutions.
As from 1st July, 2005, the BVI, like other British 'dependent territories',
was forced to apply the EU's Savings Tax Directive, and chose to apply
a withholding tax (initially of 15%) to the returns on savings paid
to nationals of EU Member States. The Directive does not apply to
corporate entities.
The BVI is a reasonably cheap jurisdiction compared to its local rivals,
and has quite strong professional services. The Government is responsive
to the needs of business, and its legislation is mostly flexible and
straightforward. There is an international airport at Road Town; connections
are mostly to Puerto Rico.
Learn more in our full British
Virgin Islands Knowledgebase. |
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Directory
For Visitors
Our aim is to offer you the ability to locate a service
provider specialising in the field of your choice, in the jurisdiction
of your choice, with just a few clicks. We only list confirmed entries
to reduce the number of dead-ends and strictly enforce categorisation
criteria to ensure that you find exactly the service you are after.
As of September 2007 we have begun to implement a new, expanded
format to make the directory even more user friendly and comprehensive.
Click
here for the new directory home page.
For Service Providers
The Lowtax Offshore Service Provider's Directory offers
firms the ability to highlight their services to one of the web's
largest specialised tax, legal and offshore audiences. Our visitors
include large numbers of corporates and HNWIs. Standard entry in
the directory is free as long as your details are kept up to date.
Premium entry options are available. Please contact Daniel
Cookson for further details.
Click
here for the new directory home page.
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Offshore
Guernsey
Guernsey Not in EU Fiscal
Area
The island of Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands between England
and France, is a British Crown dependency although in practice is
it self governing. Britain is responsible for its external affairs
including negotiations with the European Union; under the UK's accession
treaty with the EU, Guernsey forms part of the single market but
is outside the EU fiscal area. Guernsey does not generally enter
double-tax agreements, but has treaties with the UK and Jersey.
Economy Buoyant But Guernsey Is Full Up!
Guernsey has a buoyant economy dominated by the finance sector.
Unemployment is very low. The political stability in Guernsey together
with its consistently low tax status and its international reputation
as an important financial centre make it an attractive prospect
to foreign investors and workers. To protect the island's limited
resources the government tends to discourage labour-intensive inward
investment that is controlled by non residents. There are no investment
grants or incentives, but electronics and other knowledge-based
industries have been encouraged.
Guernsey's Lowtax Specialisations
Guernsey has Europe's largest captive insurance sector, and also
has strong banking, investment fund and trusts sectors, with very
well-developed advisory and financial infrastructure. The Channel
Islands Stock Exchange is based in Guernsey. There are a number
of low-tax business formats, including International Companies,
'Exempt' companies, and Limited Partnerships.
Guernsey v. the EU and
the OECD?
Guernsey's unusual situation with regard to the EU, shared with
Jersey, is both a strength and a weakness. The island will remain
a favoured base for holding and trading companies working into the
EU, and for e-commerce activity; but it has the EU's 'unfair tax
competition' initiative, and the OECD to contend with. The UK's
Edwards Report gave Guernsey high marks for its regulatory structure,
but after several years of 'hands-off' policy in regard to Guernsey
taxation, the UK government in 2002 came close to threatening Guernsey
with sanctions if it didn't fall in line with EU information-sharing
rules.
Learn
more in our full Guernsey
Knowledgebase.
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