TAX UPDATE: Proposed tax changes ahead for non-Jersey owned companies trading in Jersey

The draft 2017 Jersey budget highlighted the increased disclosure requirements for non-Jersey owned companies that trade in Jersey being taxed at 0%.

The key points of the proposal are:

From the Year of Assessment 2015, Jersey Taxes Office are introducing more stringent disclosure requirements for non-Jersey owned companies that trade in Jersey and are taxed at 0%.

Currently these companies have minimal reporting requirements, only having to submit a simplified Jersey company tax return. The return does not require any figures and is in essence a declaration of the company’s tax status and ownership.

From the Year of Assessment 2016 onwards, tax returns for non-Jersey owned companies that trade in Jersey will include a requirement to disclose the company’s profit/loss figure. In addition, financial statements will have to be submitted to the Taxes Office. Submission of financial statements is currently only a requirement for companies taxed at 10% or 20% in Jersey.

It is important to note the requirement to submit financial statements has not yet been extended to non-trading companies nor Jersey owned companies taxed at 0%. This could be announced in the future as the disclosure of a profit/loss figure was introduced from Year of Assessment 2015 for these companies.

The suggested increased disclosure requirements will certainly mean additional work to ensure financial statements for non-Jersey owned companies are completed in time for the submission deadline of 31 December following the Year of Assessment.

Having advance notice ahead of the States of Jersey debate in December 2016 means we are making preparations to ensure that when the new disclosure requirements do come in, the impact on our clients will be kept to a minimum.

We will keep a watchful eye on the outcome of the Budget debate, in the meantime if you have any questions please contact Hannah Roynon-Jones.

To read the full 2017 draft Budget statement please visit http://www.statesassembly.gov.je