Britain’s overseas territories will not sign up to an international convention aimed at tackling tax evasion ahead of the G8 summit to be held next week in Northern Ireland, the premier of Bermuda has said.
British Prime Minister David Cameron has put tax avoidance and evasion high on the agenda of the G8 Summit.
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In May, British Prime Minister David Cameron had written to the leaders of Britain’s offshore tax havens calling for transparency and he had invited the Caribbean territories to London before the G8 summit. Isle of Man chief minister, Allan Bell MHK, also welcomed the letter from Cameron.
Bermuda premier, Craig Cannonier, said, though the territories were ready to agree that wider sharing of information with international tax authorities was required, Cameron’s "aim of having the territories all commit to signing the convention was unlikely", reported Reuters.
Cannonier said that none of the territories had expressed a willingness to commit to signing the convention when they gather with Cameron at Downing Street.
"Bermuda has met most of the standards in the multilateral convention on mutual administrative assistance in tax matters, including having a register of beneficial owners of companies that other tax authorities can check," Cannonier added.
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By GlobalDataCannonier also said the convention, drafted by the organisation for economic co-operation and development, had potentially damaging elements for Bermuda.
On 3 June 2013, Bermuda was approved as a signatory for the cooperation agreement with EU member states in relation to the AIFMD.
In May 2013, many territories such as the Cayman Islands, the British Virgin Islands and the Turks and Caicos Islands, agreed to share taxpayer information with the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.
Cannonier said that the country could tighten rules so that Bermuda-registered subsidiaries needed to have more economic substance on the island to enjoy its tax benefits.
