Ah! The power of the people has triumphed once again…this time in the Cayman Islands. The news just in is that the controversial plan to have an expat only tax in the islands has been dropped.
We highlighted the issue last week in our article ‘expat tax proposal for Cayman Island tax haven’ – but following mass reporting of this in publications like Expat Money Watch and the Telegraph, as well as massive local backlash, the Premier has dropped all such plans to only tax foreign residents.
However, it’s not all good news, because the Cayman Islands still has a requirement to increase revenue for the public purse apparently, and as a result the government is considering pushing up work permit fees (also affecting only expats!), and property stamp duties.
One could ask the question – why is the Cayman Islands struggling financially when it’s such an important and seemingly successful tax haven? And the answer comes from the fact that the global financial crisis has taken its toll and allegedly the government hasn’t been oh so careful with the way it’s spent public funds in recent years. Ooops.
Oh well, at least an expat only tax is off the table.