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Information and public services for the Island of Jersey

L'înformâtion et les sèrvices publyis pouor I'Île dé Jèrri

2008 retention tax payments made to the EU Member States

​Jersey paying agents retained and passed to the Comptroller of Taxes a total of £35.62 million of retention tax for the year 2008. 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 are receiving.

Under the terms of the agreements, 75% of the tax retained (£26.71 million) is sent to the individual member states concerned and the remaining 25% (£8.91 million) is retained by the Comptroller of Taxes. 

EU Savings Directive retention tax distribution list

Year 2008 (distributed 30 June 2009) 
    GBP  EUR  USD  CHF  Sterling total 
Austria  2008  126,000  9,250  4,513  135,785 
Belgium  2008  283,680  42,299  11,498  486  323,731 
Bulgaria  2008  16,318  979  535  17,395 
Cyprus  2008  305,324  8,190  150,899  393,275 
Czech Republic  2008  58,218  12,738  10,979  74,293 
Germany  2008  791,594  70,274  32,227  39  864,843 
Denmark  2008  82,144  8,230  9,250  763  93,883 
Estonia  2008  2,609  18  2,619 
Spain  2008  1,951,507  175,124  93,523  376  2,141,292 
Finland  2008  21,200  1,257  158  22,283 
France  2008  1,684,290  162,446  205,299  50  1,924,169 
Great Britain  2008  14,246,143  861,793  1,226,074  36,947  15,610,991 
Greece  2008  1,131,774  425,149  306,884  950  1,635,624 
Hungary  2008  57,961  5,802  2,009  63,754 
Ireland  2008  553,831  48,391  38,276  612,932 
Italy  2008  681,473  60,000  31,689  18  746,252 
Lithuania  2008  4,859  30  35  4,902 
Luxembourg  2008  37,574  2,639  63  39,715 
Latvia  2008  4,330  196  4,688  7,016 
Malta  2008  407,265  19,043  13,292  19  429,577 
Netherlands  2008  389,021  228,250  29,377  586,200 
Poland  2008  67,319  5,025  130  71,381 
Portugal  2008  435,095  69,934  24,183  850  504,139 
Romania  2008  16,279  3,591  20,065  29,961 
Sweden  2008  333,068  19,199  18,111  11  358,100 
Slovenia  2008  8,894  39  88  8,974 
Slovak Republic 2008  5,123  7,678  3,274  12,990 
            26,716,076 

Supplementary information

  1. When the EU member states implemented, with effect from 1 July 2005, a directive on the taxation of savings income, Jersey, in common with a number of other dependent or associated territories of the member states and 5 European third countries (Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco, San Marino and Switzerland), agreed to support the European Union by applying a withholding / retention tax to savings income arising in the Island, the beneficial owner of which is an individual who resides in a member state. Within the European Union, Austria, Belgium and Luxembourg are also applying a withholding tax. The remaining 24 member states are exchanging information on savings income.
  2. To give effect to their support for the EU initiative, the States of Jersey enacted the Taxation (Agreements with European Union Member States) (Jersey) Regulations 2005.
  3. Under these regulations, the Comptroller of Taxes is appointed as the competent authority for the collection of the tax and its remittance to the relevant member states. 
  4. The regulations provide that tax retained in respect of each year be transferred to the relevant member state within 6 months of the end of the tax year. For the first 3 years (July 2005 – July 2008) of the retention tax the rate of tax was 15%; for the following 3 years (July 2008 – July 2011) the rate will be 20%; and thereafter the rate will be 35%. 
  5. The agreements with the 27 EU member states provides for the individuals subject to the retention tax to choose to opt for voluntary disclosure of information to the tax authorities of the member state of residence as an alternative to paying the tax. For 2008, those disclosing accounted for 57% of the interest payments covered by the EU member states (for 2007 the proportion was 55%). 
  6. For the year 2007, the amount remitted to EU member states was £26.24 million and some £8.47 million was retained by the Comptroller of Taxes. Between 2007 and 2008 there was a small increase in the payments reflecting the increase in tax rate in July 2008 from 15% to 20% and offset by the reduction in average interest rates between the 2 years.
  7. Some two thirds of the total amount remitted has been to Great Britain. The next largest 2 payments have been to France and Spain, together accounting for 13% of the total.
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