Tax agreement with India

03 November 2011

Jersey and India signed a tax information exchange agreement (TIEA) at the Indian High Commission in London today (3 November 2011). The agreement was signed by Deputy Chief Minister, Senator Philip Ozouf, and the Acting High Commissioner, Mr Rajesh Prasad. Also in attendance was Assistant Chief Minister, UK and International Relations, Senator Freddie Cohen.

Senator Ozouf said “Signing an agreement on tax information exchange with India, a G20 member, is of great importance. Jersey and India, as 2 of the 4 Vice Chairs of the Peer Review Group of the Global Forum on Transparency and Information Exchange on Tax Matters, are joined together in their commitment to the furthering of compliance with global standards.”

Senator Cohen added “We see India as a future source of considerable business for the Island. The signing of the agreement is an important further step in the development of a strong business relationship which will foster investment activity which we believe will be of significant benefit to both Jersey and India.”

Jersey attaches great importance to establishing good relationships with all of the G20 member countries. This relationship builds from the independent assessments of Jersey by the International Monetary Fund, the Financial Stability Board and the OECD Global Forum, all of which have confirmed Jersey’s high level of compliance with international standards respectively for anti-money laundering, financial regulation, and tax transparency / information exchange. Of the 19 G20 member countries (the twentieth being the European Union), Jersey has now signed tax agreements with 13 and 4 more agreements are being negotiated and are awaiting signature.

The tax information exchange provisions in the agreement will come into force once the parties have completed their respective domestic procedures.