International Services Entity (ISE) consultation

Department	Treasury and Exchequer
Start date	17/10/2012
End date	25/01/2013
Type of consultation	Green paper
Deadline for comments	25/01/2013

About the consultation

The ISE regime was introduced in parallel to GST to raise revenue from the financial services industry.  Businesses that meet certain conditions can become an ISE if they pay an annual fee. That fee varies depending on the type of business.

In 2011, the Minister for Treasury and Resources consulted businesses on the ISE regime as a whole, in part to achieve greater equity between the ISE fees charged to different kinds of businesses. That exercise made it clear that businesses in Jersey value the ISE regime and consider that, on the whole, it achieves its aims of collecting revenue with a minimum of cost and complexity. However, respondents also considered that ISE fees are proportionately greater in some sectors than others, particularly for trust companies.

This Green Paper consults on further changes to the regime which are intended to improve the fairness of the fee charging structure for trust company businesses and their clients.

This Green Paper seeks the views of the public and business, particularly the trust industry, on specific points raised in their responses in 2011, namely:

• options for amending the fee structure for trust companies so the current “basic” £7,500 fee element is replaced with scaled charges that better reflect the size of the business in question
• clarifying who is liable to pay the £200 “vehicle” element of the trust company fee

The annual fees payable by ISEs have been increased twice in the past two years, and in 2012 a total of £9.3 million in ISE fees has been paid.  The ISE regime represents an important contribution to GST revenues from the financial services industry. However, ISE status is voluntary, and the challenge for Government is how to ensure that these revenues continue to be raised in a sustainable way.

Download International Services Entity: issues affecting trust company businesses (size 218kb)

How to submit comments to the consultation

Please submit your comments by post or via email.

Email Tax Policy

Write to us:
Director of Tax Policy
Treasury and Resources Department
Cyril Le Marquand House
PO Box 353
St Helier
JE4 8UL

Responses to the consultation

​In total, eight responses were received to the Green Paper, of which one was from
an individual and a company associated with him, five were from businesses and two
were from representative bodies. All but one of the businesses responding carried
on TCB activities.

Overview of consultation responses

• there is no consensus on how best to charge ISE fees to TCBs in an equitable
  but administratively simple way
• a slim majority of respondents to this consultation favoured retaining the current
  fee structure for TCBs. Those who favoured changing the structure of the “basic”
  £7500 element did not agree on a preferred alternative
• there is no appetite for changing the way the vehicle element of the TCB fee is
  charged
• some respondents would like the fee for start-up TCBs to be waived or reduced
  in order to encourage new business to set up in the Island
• the trust and company administration sector is facing a number of pressures, in
  common with the rest of the financial services industry and the broader economy.
  Respondents consider that costs associated with doing business in Jersey should
  be held as low as possible 

Download Summary response - ISE review consultation (size 162kb)