Gordon Barlow

Most people reading this thread will know that Cayman doesn't have Income Tax or death duties, but there may be some prospective residents who would like to know how our government survives - and spends a billion dollars a year - without revenue from those sources. BE threads are intended to be simple chat-rooms, and deep explorations of topics aren't encouraged. However, as a resident for the past 38 years and a former General Manager and sometime director of the local Chamber of Commerce, I will be glad to give brief answers to any questions members may have.

uk_grenada

Im guessing the keys are something like being attractive to incorporate companies locally, then moderately taxing them, but please in generic terms do enlighten us, also - whats in it for the companies, as it seems in the uk, the tax regime doesnt seem to care where you incorporate, they just tax you on profits where they emerge, and while i can see multinationals can easily manipulate where they make profit, how does that help an island? [i once worked for a company with swiss incorporation, once a year approx, a container of stuff from europe to the uk would mistakenly turn up at a 10 person hq office in zurich...]

Also if i had a million in the mattress how or why would it be better off in cayman than say new york or london?

Gordon Barlow

30 years ago when I was at the Chamber of Commerce and fighting a proposed introduction of a tax on salaries, I worked out on the back of an envelope that 75% of all government revenue came from foreigners either resident or not. (The correct figure might well have been higher, but it was enough for the purpose.)

Taxes on cruise passengers and tourist stopovers was one large component, flat taxes on companies formed and maintained for foreign tax-dodgers was another, and import duty paid on products consumed by expat workers and their families was probably the highest of all, I can't recall the details after all these years. Then there are ad-valorum taxes on all transfers of land and buildings.

The high-tax countries can only tax income and profits that they know about. There is actually quite a lot they don't know about.

Your report of goods being imported into Switzerland (for re-export, presumably) doesn't resonate with me here in Cayman. In the bad old days suitcases full of currency notes used to come in for deposit into our banks, but that practice is long gone.

uk_grenada

The containers were never supposed to have go to switzerland, but as that was the hq, occasionally suppliers erroneously sent stuff there. In the eu however there have been several scams where goods [mainly frozen foodstuffs] travel round the continent picking up subsidies and having their country of origin 'modified' as they go.