Cayman’s Leader of Government Business the Hon. McKeeva Bush OBE, JP has signed a Double Taxation Agreement (DTA) with the UK on behalf of the Cayman Islands Government. According to the Public Relations Unit of Cayman’s Ministry of Financial Services, Tourism & Development, Mr. Bush said *“We are very pleased to sign this agreement with the United Kingdom today as part of the Cayman Islands’ continued commitment to high standards of international cooperation and transparency.”* This is the first double treaty to be signed by the Cayman Islands.
The ceremony took place at the UK Treasury, with Sephen Timms, MP. signing on behalf of the UK. Mr. Timms said tax information exchange is a vital tool in ensuring that governments receive the revenues they need to resource essential public services. *“I would like to congratulate the Cayman Islands Government for signing up to an arrangement which includes unprecedented provisions for tax information exchange that meet international standards of transparency,”* he added. It has been reported that UK Permanent Secretary for Tax, Dave Hartnett, has said the information exchange provisions in the Cayman UK DTA meet OECD standards of tax transparency.
Cayman’s new government has said it is committed to achieving the OECD’s requirement for a minimum of twelve agreements, and to see Cayman removed from the post G20 ‘grey list’.