PM To Territories: “Get Your House In Order”
British Prime Minister David Cameron has urged British overseas territories — including Bermuda to “get their house in order” — and sign up to international treaties on tax.
He wrote to 10 territories and crown dependencies, including the British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands and the Isle of Man, which operate low-tax regimes.
Critics claim such jurisdictions are used by multinational companies for tax avoidance.
The plea came ahead of a G8 summit in June, when the UK is expected to push for tighter tax measures.
“With one month to go, this is the crucial moment to get our own houses in order,” Mr Cameron [pictured] wrote in the letter.
“I respect your right to be lower tax jurisdictions … but lower taxes are only sustainable if what is owed is actually paid.”
The 10 territories which received the letter are Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Gibraltar, Anguilla, Montserrat, the Turks and Caicos Islands, Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man.
Mr. Cameron urged all of the overseas territories to sign international protocols designed to allow tax information to be shared more easily between countries, and also to take measures to improve their own transparency.
“Put simply, that means we need to know who really owns and controls each and every company,” he said.
On Sunday Britain’s opposition Labour Party — tapping into mounting public discontent over corporate tax avoidance prompted in part by Google’s use of Ireland and the Netherlands to shift billions of dollars of earnings to Bermuda — said it wanted the UK government to push for new international rules to force companies to report profit and tax payments country-by-country.
British campaigners say the move, which is receiving increased support internationally despite strong opposition from business, would deter companies from shifting profit into “tax havens” where they have no staff or sales.
On Monday Mr. Cameron met with Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt at 10 Downing Street.
Mr Schmidt was attending a meeting as a member of the Government Business Advisory Group.
But while Mr Cameron outlined his plans to use the UK’s chairmanship of the G8 to tackle tax evasion and avoidance he did not specifically raise the issue of Google’s tax bill in the UK, Britain’s “Independent” newspaper and other UK media sources have reported.
His days are numbered. Next polling will be a Labour WIN!
The UK Government needs to mind its own business.
We are their business, we’re a Briish overseas territories. In order for them to ‘mind its own business’ we would need to become independant. Something most Bermudians are not ready for.
Absolutely, we are British legally, Bermudian secondary. Ok we may not feel it, but this is 100% Cameron’s issue. Ours is Independence and getting a visa every time we go to the US, as if we are Jamaicans. Good luck with that one. I’m fine with Cameron’s comments, and I’m fine with being a little bit British. God save the Queen. And Manchester United.
When the UK houses Bermuda gang bangers who have run away from the Island, and allows Bermudians to suckle off the subsidised university education (paid for by British tax payers) then the UK is minding Bermudas business; so maybe you should reappraise your feelings. Bermuda has quite a good gig going as things stand.
Seriously dude – it’s called major payback – we have been housing your rejects for decades..
Sorry to open this can of worms but it was the British that brought us here and what is going on now is the closes to reparations any descendants of slaves will every get. Now I know this will up set some people but these are facts also Keep in mind the small percentage of people that have gone over there to live. Personal I believe they wanted a much higher about of people to leave the island and never return to make way for the super Rich. Because at the rate that going on now people losing their jobs left and right they will be losing their homes at the same rate and as small as Bermuda is where will these people go lol you got it UK baby. Just my thoughts lol
I don’t know why he’s added bermuda to this list, we’ve had TIEAs set up with the USA since the 80s and we are currently on the white list of the OECD, we have been signing new TIEAs every year with countries! What more can we do?? The OECD set a rule one year, and then move the fence further the next year and we keep up with it all! We aren’t like the caymans or BVI. We are not a banking centre, we only have 4 banks and you can walk into all four!! No brass plate banks!!
Maybe the USA and the UK should keep their own house in order!! Where do you think most of the worlds money laundering occurs? Not in small Bermuda where it would stand out like a sore thumb! No! But of course it occurs in New York and London e.g. HSBC
He’s politicking (sp)
Yeah , like what have all these TIAS been for ?
He’s just pissed off that we don’t yet have that crippling dis-incentiviser called ‘income tax’ by name yet ,even though we actually already have it twice. Payroll tax and Hospital levy.
Our actual tax base is amongst the highest in the world but ignormouses can’t see it because they don’t see ‘income tax’ or ‘corporate profits tax’ by name on the list.
‘Duty’ ? What’s that ? It’s a tax on our income folks. Not some nebulous non tax freebie.
And @ Really ?! Independance is not something that most Bermudians are ‘not ready for’. They don’t want it . period !
While we are an overseas territory the UK competes with us for insurance and reinsurance business and dont necessarily have our best interest at heart. What they really want is for us to tax police their citizens for them. As noted above we have many TIEAS already!
Er, half the ‘Bermudian’ companies here are British, the other half are American. In fact most have majority American investment firms dominating. Nice idea that Ace, XL, etc are ‘Bermudian’. They aren’t, so your comment is nonsense.
this clown hasnt a clue what he’s doing and has f#c&ed up the UK,he’ll be kicked out like the plp was.
What an idiot….he obviously didn’t do his homework on Bermuda’s efforts to become compliant over the last few years. I’m glad we don’t take a penny from them for anything. Does Cameron even realize that we pay his representative’s salary, housing and living expenses. All we ask for in return is for him to wear the flunky outfit and turkey feathered hat on special ocassions.
Sorry buddy, you are British. Look at the top of your passport. If you don’t like it, clear off to Jamaica.
Hey swing voter….get your facts right before you post….we do not pay for the man in the funny hat….and even if we did, so what, it’s a British island.
We are a Dependent Territory.
Can you imagine what Bermuda would be like,if we were not?
Amazing how the large can bully the small – we are as legitimate a domicile as anywhere and have just as much right to domicile businesses as larger countries. Are they aiming to have us all running around serving Piña Coladas and Swizzles?
go p#ss off you dumb brit and mind your own g$#%$%n business, who the hell do you think you are, you wont change a damn thing about our island
all you want is to force us to raise taxes like your country of Britain, yeah well go bugger off into your bat cave
Our house is in order. What is the UK Government going to do about the tax shelter called the City of London? In the GOLDEN Mile all sorts of huge finacial deals are rolled over without tax. The higher standard has to be set by those that ask for it first^^
That’s rich! Graeme claiming to have his house in order, lol. How’s that good governance pledge coming along Graeme? Still studying that? You rushed through a secret lease on the waterfront in record time but can’t commit to a pledge of good, honest, open government.
Classy guy.
France has no permanent friends only permanent interests-Gen. Charles de Gaulle war time leader and president of France. Prime Minister Cameron may not has spoken those words; but you can bet that is at the heart of his statement ordering British Overseas territories to get thier houses in order. This comes in the wake of the visit of the British overseas territory minister; the British Trojan horse I called him. His purpose was the same to under mine and destroy Bermuda;s low tax regime. Being a British overseas territory confers no special privilege; we continue to delude ourselves if we choose to believe other wise. Britain is another man’s country and we will increasingly see them acting in thier own interests even if it impacts on Bermuda’s interests. We have fail to learn from history. Once upon a time Britain gave it’s seafarers a royal charter to act as pirates to raid other countries ships. It was a whole system with so-called free ports to off load stolen goods and treasures. But the time came when Britain considered that it was no longer in it’s interests to maintain such a system and set about to dismantle and destroy it. Sound familiar? low tax regimes where once favourable now we hear more and more that the new
world economic order sees no role or room for them. There is a new wind blowing in the world and that wind may not be in Bermuda’s interests; no
matter how many tax agreement tieas we sign.