Retention tax payments to EU

15 September 2011

Jersey’s Comptroller of Taxes has sent to EU Member States a total of £4 million in retention tax for the year 2010. 

Retention tax is applied by Jersey paying agents and passed to the Comptroller of Taxes in accordance with agreements entered into with each of the 27 EU Member States on the taxation of eligible savings income that individuals resident in the Member States are receiving from the Island.

Under the terms of the agreements, 75% of the tax retained (£4 million) is sent to the individual Member States and the remaining 25% (£1.3 million) is retained by the Treasury. Due to the fuller effect of low interest rates, the amount of tax retained in 2010 is significantly less than in 2009 when £8.85 million was sent to the Member States and £2.99 million was retained by the Treasury.

Co-operation

The collection of retention tax relies upon the co-operation of local paying agents. The Comptroller of Taxes and the President of the Bankers’ Federation are both happy that the process of exchanging information and the payment of retention tax is continuing to work extremely well. 

Comptroller of Taxes, Malcolm Campbell, said: "I am extremely grateful once again for all the help received from paying agents, in particular banks, which bear the greatest burden as a result of these agreements."

The Treasury and Resources Minister, Senator Philip Ozouf, said: "As in previous years this shows that Jersey continues to honour the commitments that it entered into voluntarily on the agreements with Member States."