Premier: “Tackling Tax Evasion A Global Priority”
While at the RIMS Conference in Los Angeles, Premier Craig Cannonier took the opportunity to update UK Consul General in Los Angeles Dame Barbara Hay on Bermuda’s position regarding tax evasion.
Mr. Cannonier told the British diplomat that the island is working with both US and UK authorities to finalise automatic exchange of information agreements with both countries.
The Premier also said Bermuda is committed ”to produce an Action Plan aimed at ensuring that we lead jurisdictions in respect of information and enforcement of rules on beneficial ownership” in order to eliminate “any remaining hiding places” for those engaged in international tax evasion and fraud.
The Premier’s statement follows in full below:
Tackling tax evasion and fraud is a global priority which is necessary to protect the integrity of public revenues, the confidence of taxpayers in the fairness and effectiveness of their tax systems and ultimately public confidence in open global capital markets.
Despite the increased attention given to confronting tax evasion and fraud over recent years, more pointedly through the development of international standards and the Peer Review process by the Global Forum, further action is needed to prevent evasion and clamp down on tax evaders.
With this in mind, the next critical steps, aided by developments in technology, is to move to automatic exchange of tax information. The action taken by the United States under its Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act [FATCA] provides a unique opportunity to develop a new global standard in the near future and from that, to develop a system of multilateral automatic information exchange.
Bermuda embraces this next step and has committed to entering into automatic exchange of information agreements with the United Kingdom to the same timetable as the agreements which we are currently finalising with the United States.
The other element in eliminating any remaining hiding places is to improve the availability of information on beneficial ownership. The work of the Global Forum and the Financial Action Task Force has led to significant improvements but gaps still remain in many jurisdictions.
Bermuda is determined to move forward with this agenda and will commit to review the effectiveness of our legal and enforcement framework and to produce an Action Plan, aimed at ensuring that we lead jurisdictions in respect of information and enforcement of rules on beneficial ownership.
We look forward to working in close cooperation with the United Kingdom on these commitments and urge rapid development of new global standards in these areas.”
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I understand information & enforcement of rules against fraud but tax evasion…
What is the point of a tax exempt company that has to pay taxes to its country because their information is shared? Does the premier think that some of the profits made by these companies will be considered as nontaxable income by the greedy IRS?
Hey Tommy, if not sure what you are talking about, then…………
I agree
There is a very fine point between maximizing a companies profit by reducing its taxable monies in offshore jurisdictions (tax haven) and using offshore jurisdictions to hide your taxable monies (tax evasion). To keep it short, the tax evasion offenders tend to be individuals or companies who set up companies to avoid paying taxes by move taxable monies through offshore jurisdictions, when in fact these ‘shell’ companies don’t do any business. While there are the legitimate companies that do business in multiple juridictions and use offshore jurisdictions to decrease their tax bill in those other countries. Again there is a fine line between using a tax haven for business and tax evasion, but there is a line. How another country defines that line to their citizens and companies is up to them, but we are not given enough acknowledgement from the international community about what we do to help other countries with this issue, although Canada has.
Thanks for the breakdown. I appreciate the tea without the lemon unlike others who think they know it all but can’t even tell the difference between U.S. & U.K. air force insignias.
Makes sense on the shell company reason but surely some of legitimate ones will lose also because I can’t see them divulging all incomes to the IRS in the past. I know there has been rewards offered by the IRS in the past for whistle blowing on IB. Also Americans living in Bermuda even if not working for an IB are supposed to give their income information to the IRS. This seems unfair that IB will be under the microscope but others who could evade tax contribution won’t. What’s good for the goose…
i agree the us tax laws ARE A WASTE OF TIME, the US is a money wasting country and wants the hands in everything. even though it contridicts the US constitution! why feed a war hungry country more than it needs so they can screw the world economy again.
I can see the headlines now Premier of the worlds leading Tax haven claims “Tackling Tax Evasion A Global Priority” LOL, wrong words Craig.
It appears many people don’t realise that there is an enourmous difference between tax evasion (which is illegal) and tax avoidance (which is perfectly legal).
Using offshore structures to avoid taxes is perfectly legal.
When people talk about tax evasion, however, they are talking about fraud. It is illegal. That is what he is speaking against.
Maybe you should explain this to the IRS who think its the same.
http://www.irs.gov/uac/Offshore-Tax-Avoidance-and-IRS-Compliance-Efforts
These are examples of illegal tax evasion. That is what he is talking about, not the legal structuring of finances so as to minimize taxes. The two are different.
As a matter of fact I’d like yo see some prison sentences for tax Bermuda employers who deduct Payroll Tax, Social Security and Pension contributions, and then keep them.
mad dog your right! MANY companies are doing just that! Goverment is doing nothing about this. Businesses collecting pension , both private pention like colonial ,bF&M ETC ,or and social insurance.InClude health insurance. This i call fraud and robbery. happy workers under these conditions a joke! reality is most private jobs exist only because of employer robbery of their staff. pension commition been their a joke 1 year complaint no answer . social insurance been their , they say i have to quit my job to recoop stolen funds. goverment defences seem to send you in circles,from one department to another to no avail. Who is truly running this country i wanna know!
Only the guilty run if you have nothing to hide why would you!