Gordon Barlow

Life isn't perfect in Cayman, but at least we don't pay Income Tax. Not on salaries, not on business profits, not on anything. That's nice. No "rates" are levied on our houses or apartments - only an ad valorum tax on their purchase. We don't even pay to get our garbage collected twice a week; nobody was paying the collection-charge, so the authorities cancelled it a couple of years ago. Our main tax is a 22% Duty on the landed cost of all imports (27% on vehicles). The importers pay that and include it in their advertised shelf-prices.

Because we are a British colony (since 1670), our mother country looks after all our defence needs, and we save on the trappings of political independence. In return, we provide a useful base for Britain's overseas intelligence agencies and their shenanigans. (All very hush-hush, that.)

It is the British Flag that allows us to be one of the world's most prestigious "offshore" tax-havens, with hedge funds and tax-avoidance vehicles galore. They pay through the nose to be here - which explains why we don't need an Income Tax. My blogsite contains occasional references to our colonial status; any questions would be best posted in this forum.