Guernsey Press

New corporate residence forms for tax filings published

NEW corporate residence forms for tax filings have been published.

Published
Carey Olsen's Laila Arstall. (24161041)

Amendments to Guernsey’s corporate residence test – which came into effect in January – have been followed by the revenue service’s publication of new forms and guidance on the process for notifying changes to the corporate residence of companies.

‘By offering the facility for eligible companies to obtain confirmation of their residence status, the revenue service recognise that such confirmation will be of assistance to the ongoing administration and management of companies affected by the recent changes,’ said Carey Olsen counsel Laila Arstall.

‘In the meantime, we await the publication of the new, enhanced company tax return which is being designed to incorporate aspects of Guernsey’s new substance requirements for companies that carry on geographically mobile financial and other service activities.’

With effect from 1 January 2019, a company will be treated as tax resident in Guernsey in a year of charge if it is controlled in Guernsey, or is centrally managed and controlled in Guernsey, in that year of charge, or it is incorporated in Guernsey and has not been granted an exemption from tax for that year of charge.

In certain circumstances a company will not be treated as resident in Guernsey in a year of charge, even if it is incorporated or controlled in Guernsey. This may be the case where the company is tax resident in another territory from where its business is centrally managed and controlled and it meets other requirements.

The revenue service’s recently published documents include a circular setting out the process for notifying it of changes to a company’s jurisdiction of residence based on the new corporate resident test.

This has been accompanied by the publication of a form for the registration of a foreign incorporated company as tax resident in Guernsey as well as a form to be completed where a company wishes to request confirmation of its status as non-tax resident in Guernsey.