Jersey Announces Retention Tax Payments To EU For 2007

by Philip Morton, Investors Offshore.com

04 July 2008

It was announced on Wednesday that Jersey paying agents retained and passed to the Comptroller of Income Tax a total of GBP34.98mn of retention tax for the year 2007.

This is in accordance with agreements entered into with each of the 27 EU Member States on the taxation of savings income that individuals resident in the Member States receive.

Under the terms of the agreements, 75% of the tax retained (GBP26.24mn) is sent to the individual Member States concerned, and the remaining 25% (GBP8.74mn) is retained by the Comptroller of Income Tax.

Individuals whose interest income is subject to tax can, as an alternative to paying the tax, choose the alternative of voluntarily disclosing the amount of interest to their fiscal authorities.

For 2007, 61,600 individuals opted for voluntary disclosure.

The collection of retention tax relies upon the co-operation of local paying agents, and the Comptroller of Income Tax and the President of the Jersey Bankers Association are both happy that the process of exchanging information and the retention of tax is working very well, according to the Jersey authorities.

Treasury and Resources Minister, Senator Terry Le Sueur, commented:

"This shows that Jersey continues to honour the commitments that it entered into voluntarily in the Agreements with Member States. This co-operation will continue in the future."

Malcolm Campbell, Comptroller of Income Tax, added in conclusion that:

"I am extremely grateful once again for all the co-operation and help received from the paying agents, in particular the banks, who bear the greatest burden."

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