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Act

Tax Information Authority Act (2021 Revision)

Department for International Tax Cooperation (DITC) · Cayman Islands

In force

Status per the Cayman Islands legislation register (legislation.gov.ky) (as at 2026-07-09)

View on DITC's website Source document

Current version last checked: 2026-07-27

Summary

This is the consolidated 2021 Revision of the Cayman Islands' Tax Information Authority Act, the primary law establishing the Tax Information Authority (TIA, now housed within DITC) and giving legal effect to the Cayman Islands' network of bilateral and multilateral tax information exchange agreements (TIEAs) and the OECD Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters. It is not new law but an official revision consolidating amendments made since 2005 (including Laws 20/2008, 11/2012, 9/2014, 12/2014, 1/2016, 27/2020 and 56/2020) as at 31 December 2020.

Key Provisions

  • Powers and functions: Sets out the TIA's powers and functions to execute requests for information from treaty partners, including compelling testimony, obtaining documents, and conducting searches and seizures under judicial authorisation (a Grand Court judge sitting administratively).
  • Definition of information: Defines 'information' broadly to include facts, statements, documents and records held by banks, other financial institutions, or persons acting as agents, nominees, trustees or fiduciaries, as well as beneficial ownership information for companies, partnerships, collective investment funds and trusts.
  • Confidentiality and disclosure: Contains confidentiality protections for those disclosing information to the Authority and restrictions on the use and further disclosure of exchanged information.
  • Offence: Creates an offence for providing misleading information.
  • Enforcement: Includes enforcement provisions.
  • Schedule amendment mechanism: Provides a mechanism for Cabinet to add or amend schedules containing new international agreements.
  • Schedules 1-39: Reproduce the full text of Cayman's TIEAs and related agreements with over 30 jurisdictions plus the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters.

Because this is a framework/enabling statute rather than a set of periodic compliance requirements, it does not itself impose recurring filing obligations on regulated entities in the way that CRS/FATCA regulations do. Instead, it empowers the Authority to compel information from banks, financial institutions, trustees, nominees and other persons holding relevant records when executing a request under a scheduled agreement, and imposes confidentiality and truthful-disclosure duties on those involved in that process.

Key obligations

  • Persons served with a notice or summons under a request executed pursuant to a scheduled Agreement must provide the information, testimony or documents demanded, subject to judicial compulsion powers under section 8
  • Any person to whom confidential information is disclosed under the Act must maintain its confidentiality and not use or further disclose it except as permitted under sections 20, 20A and 21
  • Persons providing information to the Authority must not provide false or misleading information (offence under section 24A)
  • The Authority (the Minister responsible for Financial Services) must execute requests from treaty partners in accordance with the procedures in section 7, subject to the safeguards in sections 8, 22 and 24
  • Persons participating in interviews or examinations connected with a request may only be examined with their consent, per section 22

Applies to

banks, other financial institutions, nominees and trustees acting in an agency or fiduciary capacity, companies, partnerships, collective investment funds, trusts

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Version history

2026-07-05

source file (current)