MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Gibraltar signs information exchange agreements to boost tax transparency

Stephen Timms Financial Secretary to the UK Treasury welcomed Gibraltar’s commitment to the TIEA

Gibraltar Chief Minister Peter Caruana signed a tax information exchange agreement (TIEA) with the UK which is set to boost levels of transparency on tax-related issues, reports the Gibraltar Chronicle.

This is the sixth such agreement signed by the Gibraltar Government and follows similar arrangements entered into with the US, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Germany.

No details have emerged locally about this latest tax deal with the UK Treasury, which puts Gibraltar on course to achieve the target of 12 such agreements by the November deadline demanded by the OECD, to ensure the Rock’s inclusion among the top financial jurisdictions in the world.

On behalf of the UK Government, Stephen Timms Financial Secretary to the Treasury welcomed Gibraltar’s commitment to the TIEA which he said reinforced the number of jurisdictions covered by the new tax standard.

He said: “I am very grateful to the Government of Gibraltar for their constructive approach to this agreement and I welcome the fact that Gibraltar has now joined the rapidly growing number of jurisdictions making good on their commitments to apply high standards of transparency and exchange of information in tax matters.

“The agreement is in line with the OECD’s standards of transparency and the implementation of these standards is very much in the interests of all those taxpayers who comply with the spirit and letter of the law.”

Mr Timms has strategic oversight of taxation as a whole, including overall responsibility for the Finance Bill, HM Revenue and Customs, and European and international tax issues.

According to the internet website CITIWIRE the agreement will help “to ensure that those liable to tax in the UK pay the right tax on investments in Gibraltar and on supplies of goods and services into and out of the UK.”

CITIWIRE said: “It is the eighth such agreement to be signed with an offshore jurisdiction since 2008 and follows increased pressure to cut down on tax evaders who use offshore tax jurisdictions for unlawful tax avoidance.

“At the G20 Summit in London this year, country leaders agreed to draw up a list of tax havens to be subjected to an internationally agreed tax standard after a number of tax evasion scandals hit the headlines last year.

“One of the most prominent events surrounded that of an offshore bank based in the German-speaking state of Liechtenstein.

“The German government managed to obtain the name and account details of more than a thousand customers at the bank and a number of arrests followed relating to the charge of tax evasion. The event highlighted the issue of possible tax avoidance in offshore jurisdictions”.