Double taxation agreement exclusions (FOI)

​Request

The Double Taxation Agreement (DTA) between Jersey and the United Kingdom provides an exemption from Jersey tax for UK residents carrying out duties in Jersey (eg UK consultants undertaking short term project work in Jersey).

However the DTA specifically excludes ‘sportsmen and entertainers’ from the DTA with the result that income derived from activities carried on in Jersey will be subject to tax.

A number of professional sportsmen and entertainers visit Jersey – eg visiting rugby players, Super League Triathlon competitors, concert / festival performers etc. Given the withdrawal of non-residents relief with effect from 1 January 2016 I understand Jersey tax is due at a simple 20% rate on Jersey earnings.

Are the Taxes Office able to answer the following questions please:

A
Are procedures in place to identify visiting sportsmen and entertainers and to contact them to calculate and collect tax liabilities. Please outline any such procedures.

B
How much tax was due for each of the years 2014 to 2017

C
Was all tax due successfully collected. If it was not collected in full can the Taxes Office outline the amounts of tax not pursued or written off for each year 2014 to 2017 with a broad explanation of why it was not collected.

Response

A
Very few professional sportsmen and entertainers that come to the Island to exercise their profession are likely to have a Jersey tax liability due to the manner in which their affairs are structured and the way their prize money and / or earnings are remunerated. The Comptroller is currently reviewing guidance and procedures in this respect with a view to publication on the States website in due course.

B & C
The information required to respond to this request is not held by the Taxes Office and therefore cannot be supplied.

Articles applied
Article 3 - Meaning of “information held by a public authority”

For the purposes of this Law, information is held by a public authority if –
(a) it is held by the authority, otherwise than on behalf of another person; or
(b) it is held by another person on behalf of the authority.

Article 4 - Meaning of “information to be supplied by a public authority”

(1) For the purposes of this Law, the information held by a public authority at the time when a request for the information is received is the information that is to be taken to have been requested.
(2) However, account may be taken of any amendment or deletion made to the information between the time when the request for the information was received and the time when it is supplied if the amendment or deletion would have been made regardless of the request for the information.