Tax-sharing deals 'are worthless'

The tax information agreements that Jersey has signed with 15 other jurisdictions are worthless, a tax campaign group has said.

Jersey has signed a Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) with countries such as France, USA and UK.

A tax campaign group said many TIEAs were ineffective and did not help stop tax evasion.

But Jersey Finance insist agreements for exchanging information in a criminal investigation, work well.

Information 'blocked'

The States said that being able to share tax information should help stop money laundering and combat the financing of terrorism.

But tax campaign group Tax Justice Network said some TIEAs were worthless.

The legal technicalities provided ample opportunities to hinder and block requests for information, the network said.

Robert Kirkby, from Jersey Finance, said: "If you are going to undertake tax evasion why would you go to a territory where Tax Information Exchange Agreements are being actively pursued and engaged in - you would go elsewhere."

"The more nations that take onboard these agreements then the less chance that tax evasion will happen," he added.

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