Cayman Island's Days Numbered As Tax Haven
Back of a dramatic drop in tourism and fallout from the ongoing global recession which has stripped out a considerably amount of the wealth of the worlds high net worth individuals, the Cayman Island's is now looking to tax income, property and corporations. Long one of preferred offshore tax havens by those shielding income and using the favorable legal structure to create a home base for private equity and trust entities; the country is currently running at a fiscal deficit.
At a time when the OECD us working hard to shut down overseas tax havens, much of the pressure is coming from Britain who has not insisted that any lending through the Commonwealth will only be forthcoming one direct taxation is put in place. For overseas financial firms who use the country as home base back of beneficial corporate tax and company arrangements, any significant changes could well lead to a sharp decline in revenues from this. It's very much a Catch 22 situation as once the country complies and implements the conditions it will no doubt lead to a demise of the finance industry and cause the countries worsening economic situation to further erode.