Gibraltar commits to eradicating tax evasion

GIBRALTAR (Government Notice) Her Majesty’s Government of Gibraltar is committed to continue working with the UK Government and the wider international community on a new package on tax  transparency. It will do so in a spirit of partnership with the UK, as advocated in the Overseas Territories’ White Paper. The Gibraltar Government is confident that it already has in place a robust regime for the rooting out of tax evasion, particularly through its  membership of the EU and full compliance with EU rules. It is committed to pursuing this agenda with the UK in agreement, and subject to consultation, with the finance industry in Gibraltar.>>>

It remains the Gibraltar Government’s firm view that tackling tax evasion and fraud is rightly a global priority, necessary to protect the integrity of public revenues, the confidence of taxpayers in the fairness and effectiveness of their tax systems and, ultimately, public confidence in open global capital markets. Gibraltar, uniquely amongst all British Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies, notes that it is required to comply, and already complies, with all EU requirements in these areas. 

Despite the increased attention given to tackling evasion and fraud over recent years, in particular through the development of international standards and the Peer Review process by the Global Forum, further action may be considered necessary to deter evasion and clamp down on evaders. In this respect the next necessary step, is to move to a global system of automatic exchange of tax information.

The action taken by the United States under its Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act gives a unique opportunity to develop a new global standard in the near future and from that to develop a system of 

multilateral automatic information exchange. Gibraltar has committed to enter the US FATCA and to enter into similar arrangements with the UK in accordance with the same timetable. 

Furthermore, building on our actions as regards the EU Savings Directive, we also commit to the pilot multilateral automatic exchange of tax information announced recently by the UK, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. We would also call on other jurisdictions to commit to this initiative which will take us to a new level of tax benefit from fraud.