Crown Dependencies ‘shoulder to shoulder’ on tax changes
GUERNSEY, Jersey and the Isle of Man are standing ‘shoulder to shoulder’ on a global tax overhaul and will move together if changes are needed locally.
Mark Helyar, Treasury lead for the Policy & Resources Committee, said that a common position is being taken by the Crown Dependencies as global discussions continue on international tax policy.
And there were no immediate plans to change Guernsey’s zero-10 corporate tax regime, he said.
At the weekend, the G7 group of nations backed a raft of tax changes, aimed at tech giants paying taxes in countries where they operate, and not only where they have headquarters. A global minimum 15% corporate tax was also backed.
International discussions are now focused within the wider G20 group of nations and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, which is developing a new global tax framework to take account of the digitalisation of the world economy.
Deputy Helyar said he had spoken to counterparts in Jersey and the Isle of Man to talk about the Crown Dependencies’ joint approach to the situation.
‘It’s exactly the same, which is we don’t know the detail yet. We’re very compliant jurisdictions. We are going to co-operate. And if we see that there are carve-outs that start to be created, for example, in the EU, with Ireland and other places, then we would look to have the best possible position we can going forward.’
The Crown Dependencies would also move together if any future changes were made if a global deal was reached on a new international tax system.
‘Absolutely. We just had that discussion and we are agreed that we will all stand together,’ said Deputy Helyar.
‘I’ve literally just come off of a conference call with [Jersey’s] Ian Gorst and Alfred Cannan [from the Isle of Man government]. We’ve agreed that the islands will be shoulder to shoulder. They will have the same approach.’
