Report: ‘Territories Won’t Sign Deal Before G8′
[Updated] “Britain’s overseas territories will not sign up to an international convention aimed at tackling tax evasion ahead of the G8 summit next week,” according to a report from the Reuters news agency.
The report said, “Premier Craig Cannonier said the Territories were ready to agree that wider sharing of information with international tax authorities was required but Cameron’s aim of having the territories all commit to signing the convention was unlikely.
“My understanding is that we are not here to sign something, but simply to agree that everyone needs to get on par,” he told Reuters in a telephone interview on Wednesday.
According to Reuters, the Premier said the territories had held conference calls and “none had expressed a willingness to commit to signing the convention” when they meet with Mr Cameron on Saturday.
The Financial Times is also carrying a report on the matter, saying: “Bermuda will not commit to a convention on fighting tax evasion ahead of next week’s summit of the Group of Eight leading economies, in a blow to David Cameron’s hopes of securing agreement from all Britain’s offshore centres in the run-up to the meeting in Northern Ireland.”
British Prime Minister David Cameron has asked senior representatives of overseas territories and crown dependencies to London on the eve of this month’s G8 summit meeting to discuss tax issues and information.
This meeting follows after a letter written last month by Mr Cameron to the Overseas Territories asking them to “get their house in order” when it came to international tax codes.
The letter was sent to leaders in Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Gibraltar, Anguilla, Montserrat, the Turks and Caicos Islands, Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man.
Opposition MP Walton Brown has said that the UK government “has crossed the line on this contrived tax evasion push”, and said it “is grandstanding on the part of the UK Prime Minister, and we should not be participating in it.”
Bermuda has signed a number of Tax Information Exchange Agreements, and politicians from both sides of the aisle have said Bermuda is not a tax haven, and abides by international conventions.
Shadow Finance Minister David Burt said, “I think that it’s very important in regards to any issues unfairly labeling Bermuda as a tax haven need to be dealt with, and dealt with swiftly.
“It is important Bermuda protect what is ours. We have worked hard for what we have, we abide by all the international conventions, all the international rules. We are leaders of international tax cooperation…”
Premier Cannonier said, “While Prime Minister Cameron is keen to underscore Britain’s position on fighting tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance through tax information and exchange and access to information on beneficial ownership companies, Bermuda takes no issue with this initiative because Bermuda is already ahead of the curve.”
“I want to make it clear that attending the U.K. meeting provides Bermuda with another opportunity to articulate on a world stage that while we may all be British Overseas Territories, Bermuda is fundamentally different in how we conduct business. Bermuda is a low Tax Jurisdiction – not a Tax Haven,” said Premier Cannonier.
You can read the full Reuters article here, and the Financial Times article here.
Update 5.27pm: The Premier said Bermuda welcomes the initiative and supports the principles, however legitimate reservations exist that must be addressed relating to costs, security of data, treaty duplication prior to signing the document.
The full statement from the Premier’s office is below:
Bermuda welcomes the initiative to conclude a Multilateral Convention Agreement in principle and supports the principles of transparency and exchange of information that the Convention embodies.
However, legitimate reservations exist that must be addressed relating to costs, security of data, treaty duplication prior to signing the document. Bermuda is currently in talks with HM Treasury, in full anticipation that the issues will be ironed out as quickly as possible.
Today, Premier Craig Cannonier spoke to international media and discussed Bermuda’s strategy relating to international tax and regulatory policy.
“Bermuda has always been a reputable and internationally responsible jurisdiction”, he said. “Our main industry is Reinsurance and Insurance and our consumption tax regime dates back to the 1800’s, a century before Bermuda became an international financial center.
“For example, 60 to 65% of all our financial activity in Bermuda is in insurance assets covering risks with trading partners, such as in the UK, where Bermuda has a direct and significant role in its economy, producing as many as 100,000 jobs. Bermuda also writes 27% of all European reinsurance, including 40% of all Lloyds Reinsurance.”
Premier Cannonier explained: “Originally Bermuda focused its Tax Treaty strategy around members of the G8, G20, EU, and OECD countries and as a result Bermuda has signed 39 Tax Information Exchange Agreements.
“To date, Bermuda has signed Tax Agreements with 90% of the G20, with the exception of two countries (the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Russian Federation). Bermuda has tax agreements with 52% of EU member states but we have concluded negotiations with many more EU members. Bermuda also has tax agreements with 76% of OECD member states.
We look forward to our discussions with Prime Minister Cameron on these matters.
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I’m all for sharing tax information in appropriate circumstances, but one of the things we need to look at is the expectation of the UK and the EU countries. They all have income tax and a huge (and costly) infrastructure to collect that tax. If the UK or EU are expecting that level of information to be collected by the Bermuda Government, someone will have to pay for the additional civil servants required and it won’t be me. My granddaughter will already be paying the debt run up by the Bermuda Government in my lifetime. I will not support any more debt.
It is good to see that Premier Cannonier’s comments are more circumspect than they were last week.
While I appreciate that the Govt must be seen to be fighting Bermuda’s corner, ultimately this is a PR exercise on both fronts. The reality is that much of what the Britsh Govt is asking for is already being done and they need to sort out their own fiscal messes. However, just as our Premier must be seen to be doing something, so must the G8 leaders and we need to soak that up. So let’s have this little dance with them,telling our people that we are “coming out swinging” while also being all nice and sweet with the big G8 kids. Hopefully, when Cameron and co. have extracted their headlines and political capital, they will leave us alone again.
My M8′s in-law is a BA pilot….and can’t afford to purchase a flat withing 80Km of Heathrow or Gatwick….meanwhile the UK welcomes welfare immigrants with open arms, give them DOLE housing, food, clothes and free education…..now where do you think all that TAX money comes from….read my post again if you can’t connect the dots.
Im not a big fan of bob Richards, but please do not let our esteemed leader speak for us. We’ll all end up packaging groceries at lindos.
The man is a complete numbnut !!