Gibraltar signs tax transparency agreement with UK

Offshore tax jurisdiction Gibraltar has today signed an agreement with the UK aimed at boosting levels of transparency on tax-related issues.

The chief minister of Gibraltar Peter Carcuna QC signed a tax information exchange agreement (TIEA) with the UK which will help to ensure that those liable to tax in the UK pay the right tax on investments in Gibraltar and on supplies of goods and services into and out of the UK.

It is the eighth such agreement to be signed with an offshore jurisdiction since 2008 and follows increased pressure to cut down on tax evaders who use offshore tax jurisdictions for unlawful tax avoidance.

At the G20 Summit in London this year, country leaders agreed to draw up a list of tax havens to be subjected to an internationally agreed tax standard after a number of tax evasion scandals hit the headlines last year.

One of the most prominent events surrounded that of an offshore bank based in the German-speaking state of Liechtenstein.

The German government managed to obtain the name and account details of more than a thousand customers at the bank and a number of arrests followed relating to the charge of tax evasion. The event highlighted the issue of possible tax avoidance in offshore jurisdictions.

The right honourable Stephen Timms MP welcomed Gibraltar’s commitment to the TIEA which he said reinforced the number of jurisdictions covered by the new tax standard.

‘I am very grateful to the government of Gibraltar for their constructive approach to this agreement and I welcome the fact that Gibraltar has now joined the rapidly growing number of jurisdictions making good on their commitments to apply high standards of transparency and exchange of information in tax matters,' he said.

‘Today’s agreement is in line with the OECD’s standards of transparency and the implementation of these standards is very much in the interests of all those taxpayers who comply with the spirit and letter of the law.'