Gibraltar's Phasing Out Of Offshore Regime May Afford It Blacklist Waiver

by Robert Lee, Tax-News.com, London

02 April 2009

With judgement day increasingly imminent, Gibraltar’s Chief Minister Peter Caruana embarked on a visit to London this week to muster support for Gibraltar. Caruana hopes that several previous revisions to the Rock’s tax system, which included the phasing out of its ‘offshore’ regime, and the recent signing of its first TIEA, will stand Gibraltar in good stead at the G20’s meeting on ‘tax havens’ on April 2, where a newly drafted blacklist is expected to emerge.

Caruana, eager to disassociate Gibraltar from tags like ‘offshore jurisdiction’ and ‘tax haven’ underlined that, despite the jurisdiction's ‘offshore’ roots, it currently operates an ‘onshore’ tax system and urged that it should be represented as such by the UK at the forthcoming G20 summit.

Caruana’s call stems from the Gibraltar state aid case, which began in 2002 and was resolved in Gibraltar’s favour on December 18, 2008. The case led to a major reshuffle of Gibraltar’s tax system – offshore and onshore tax regimes, questioned by the European Commission in April 2004, were harmonized as a result, with the phasing out of its ‘qualifying’ company and exempt company scheme, removing advantages granted to offshore companies over their onshore counterparts.

Gibraltar’s government, regaining its official fiscal autonomy within the case, has now been able to push forward its plans to implement its new low tax system by July 1, 2010. Until then its tax regime, following the phasing out of its tax structures for offshore companies, allows Gibraltar to be classified as an ‘onshore’ financial centre, regulated by EU directives and regulations. Caruana is keen to draw attention to these recent changes in order to shield Gibraltar from the G20's judgmental onslaught.

Gibraltar agreed to conform to OECD principles of transparency and information exchange on February 27, 2002. The agreement states that it would allow for the signing of agreements for the exchange of information in criminal tax matters by December 31, 2003 and in civil tax matters by December 31, 2005 with appropriate safeguards against so-called ‘fishing expeditions’.

Gibraltar, until this week, had not signed any agreements, but concluded its first Tax Information Exchange Agreement with the US whilst visiting London.

At the signing of Gibraltar's first TIEA with US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, Caruana said: "We are delighted that our first agreement of this kind is with the United States. Gibraltar is committed to the OECD standard and the offer of such an agreement is open to other countries. Properly regulated exchange of information has become increasingly important. We look forward to co-operating with the United States under this agreement. As part of the European Union, Gibraltar already complies with EU standards of financial regulation and exchange of information."

The agreement reinforces Gibraltar's March 24, 2009 pledge to follow moves taken by other jurisdictions and endeavour to conclude OECD model agreements to provide information in the case of tax crimes, in which it stated: “Gibraltar shares the view that international co-operation in tax matters has become increasingly important, and will inevitably and necessarily be an ingredient of the new financial order that will emerge in the aftermath of the current global financial crisis. Gibraltar remains willing to participate in exchange of information on the OECD model basis”.

With Gibraltar's newly-substantiated commitment to OECD standards, and its EU regulation, Caruana will hope that Gibraltar will be grouped with other well-regulated onshore low tax European countries like Cyprus, Switzerland and the Netherlands, when the G20's axe falls.

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