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Guernsey’s Chief Minister has welcomed further steps taken by Guernsey during the first part of 2014 on meeting global standards of tax transparency.
In December, the States of Guernsey voted unanimously for the OECD’s and Council of Europe’s Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters (“the Convention”) to be extended to Guernsey, and this will come into effect on 1 August 2014. The entry into force of the Convention will then enable Guernsey to implement its ongoing policy of enhancing transparency for tax purposes and will enable Guernsey to enter into dialogue with relevant partner countries which share such values.
In the meantime Guernsey has continued to build its network of bilateral tax information exchange agreements – in line with the comments of Pascal Saint-Amans, the OECD’s Head of Global Tax Policy, that "Guernsey has been one of the most active jurisdictions promoting transparency in practice... The number of TIEAs signed so far seriously enhances Guernsey's reputation as a responsible and transparent financial centre, as recognised by the Global Forum peer review.”
Chief Minister Deputy Jonathan Le Tocq said: “I am aware that we need to do more than just talk the talk on tax transparency. Our network of tax agreements – well over 60 Tax Information Exchange Agreements and Double Taxation Agreements which include provisions regarding the exchange of tax information meeting the international standard – demonstrates how we want to ensure that what we do matches what we say, and paves the way for the extension of the Convention.
“These are truly global standards that we are meeting and supporting. In addition, our membership of the Early Adopters Group initiative for early adoption of the proposed new Global Standard on Automatic Exchange of Information – the ‘Common Reporting Standard’ – demonstrates that we are playing our part in promoting truly global standards for the future.”
During April and May, Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEAs) were signed with two further EU Members States – Austria and Belgium.

Deputy Kevin Stewart, who signed the TIEA with Austria’s Ambassador in London, commented: “Signing bilateral agreements with EU Members States demonstrates not only our commitment to tax transparency, but also the importance of such agreements in establishing Guernsey’s international identity – that of a mainstream finance centre that meets global standards. Like our neighbours in the EU, we want to promote growth and prosperity through well-regulated, stable and transparent finance centres.”
Other recent agreements which have been concluded have been TIEAs with Costa Rica, Montserrat and the Turks and Caicos islands, and a Double Taxation Agreement with Monaco.
