If Jersey wants to lose the tax haven label why not try giving up being a tax haven?

Posted on

I was most amused to read this in the Jersey Evening Post the other day:

Two leading Westminster figures have urged Jersey to do more to fight off the tax haven label that press and politicians use when referring to the Island.

The MP for the Cities of London and Westminster, Mark Field, and the director general of the Institute of Economic Affairs, Mark Littlewood, both agreed that the Island needs to do more to stem the seemingly spiralling belief that the Island is a haven for tax cheats.

Why was I amused? Well firstly that Field and Littlwwood - two far right players who are ignored even by most people in the Tory party - can be called "leading figures".

But amused also that they think a little rhetoric will solve this. There's a lot more to it than that, as is explained here.

But if in doubt Jersey has to:

1) Become cooperative with the UK on automatic information exchange: it isn't at present

2) Has to support the European Union Savings Tax Directive and its extension

3) Has to offer automatic information exchange to all comers, as it is now doing to the USA

4) Has to demand companies put their accounts on public record

5) Get rid of its abusive trust regime designed to help tax evasion

6) Ensure local records are properly maintained on trusts

7) Improve its international cooperation.

Having some taxes would help too.

They've a long way to go but the way to get rid of the tax haven label is easy - they just have to stop being one.

Odd that never occurred to Field and Littlewood. I wonder why not?


Thanks for reading this post.
You can share this post on social media of your choice by clicking these icons:

You can subscribe to this blog's daily email here.

And if you would like to support this blog you can, here: