Breaking finance and business news, tax information, jobs and more for finance directors and senior finance professionals.

A new tax information exchange arrangement between the United Kingdom and Bermuda was signed in London on 4 December 2007 by Meg Munn, parliamentary under-secretary of state at the foreign and commonwealth office and Paula A Cox, the deputy premier and minister of finance of Bermuda.

The text of the arrangement can be accessed on the HMRC website and will in due course be laid as schedules to a draft order in council for consideration by the House of Commons. It will then also be available from the Stationery Office.

Financial secretary to the Treasury Jane Kennedy said that these new arrangements represent a significant step in our efforts to counter and prevent tax evasion and avoidance.

“I commend the Government of Bermuda for its willingness to implement the high standards of transparency and exchange of information to which it is committed and for its continuing leadership in this important global tax policy area," she added.

The arrangement will enter into force in 12 months time, provided both countries have completed their legislative procedures to give effect to the arrangement.

Tax information exchange arrangements (TIEAs) allow governments to enforce their domestic tax laws by exchanging, on request, information relevant to a tax matter covered by the arrangements.

This is the first comprehensive TIEA signed by the UK and covers both direct and indirect tax matters.

Previously, the UK has concluded limited agreements providing for the exchange of information in relation to the taxation of income from savings with Jersey, Guernsey, the Isle of Man, Gibraltar, the Cayman Islands, the British Virgin Islands, Anguilla, the Turks & Caicos Islands, Montserrat, the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba.

Bermuda already has TIEAs in force with the United States and Australia.

Related links

• HM Revenue and Customs
• Text of the arrangement