Tax Information Authority Regulations (2013 Revision)

Summary

This is a set of regulations made under the Tax Information Authority Law that prescribe the standard forms used by the Cayman Islands Tax Information Authority (and the Attorney General) when processing incoming international requests for tax information (e.g. under bilateral Tax Information Agreements or Part IV of the Law, which covers exchange with scheduled countries). The regulations themselves contain almost no substantive rules; their sole function is to set out four statutory forms in a Schedule.

• Form 1: Public Policy Certificate.
• Form 2: Certificate of Compliance.
• Form 3: Notice to Produce Information.
• Form 4: Notice of Request.

The document applies to anyone who becomes a recipient of one of these notices in the course of a tax information exchange request - typically banks, other financial institutions, and persons acting as nominees, trustees or in another agency/fiduciary capacity who hold relevant information, as well as persons who are themselves the subject of an information request (including beneficial owners of companies, partnerships, collective investment funds and trusts). It does not create new licensing or ongoing compliance regimes; rather it operationalises obligations already found in the Tax Information Authority Law by giving the exact wording of the notices that create binding deadlines and confidentiality duties for those who receive them.

• Notice to Produce Information (Form 3): A person served must hand over the specified information within a time period stated in that individual notice, and must keep the fact and details of the request confidential for a set period, subject to criminal penalties for non-compliance.
• Notice of Request (Form 4): A person served, i.e. someone who is the subject of an information request, has a limited window to make written submissions to the Authority (including any claim of legal privilege) and is likewise bound to confidentiality, again with criminal penalties for breach.

Key obligations

• A person served with a Notice to Produce Information (Form 3) must produce the information specified in the Notice's Schedule within the number of days stated in that Notice, counted from its date of issue.
• A recipient of a Notice to Produce Information must not alter, destroy, mutilate, deface, hide, or remove any information they are required to produce, on pain of criminal liability (fine of $10,000 and up to 2 years' imprisonment under section 24(1) of the Law).
• A recipient of a Notice to Produce Information must keep the fact of receipt and all particulars of the request confidential (except disclosure to their attorney-at-law) for ninety days from the date of issue of the Notice, subject to criminal liability (fine of $1,000 and up to 6 months' imprisonment under section 24(2) of the Law) for breach.
• Where information requested consists of electronic records, it must be produced in a form that can be taken away and is visible and legible, or otherwise visible and legible as required.
• A person served with a Notice of Request (Form 4) may make a written submission to the Authority, including any assertion of legal privilege, within fifteen days from the date of receipt of the Notice.
• A subject of a Notice of Request must keep the fact of receipt and particulars of the request confidential (except to their attorney-at-law) for ninety days from the date of issue of the Notice, subject to criminal penalties for breach under section 24(2) of the Law.
• Where a written submission responding to a Notice of Request is made by fax or email, the original must be forwarded to the Authority at the address specified within five working days of the transmission.

Applies to

banks, other financial institutions, persons acting as nominees or trustees or in an agency or fiduciary capacity, holders of information subject to a Notice to Produce Information, persons who are the subject of an information request (Notice of Request), collective investment funds, trusts, companies and partnerships

Deadlines

• within [specify time] days of the date of issue of the Notice: Time within which a recipient of a Notice to Produce Information (Form 3) must produce the specified information to the Authority (exact period to be inserted in each individual notice).
• 90 days from the date of issue of the Notice: Confidentiality period during which a recipient of a Notice to Produce Information may not disclose the fact of receipt or particulars of the request, except to their attorney-at-law.
• fifteen days from the date of receipt of the Notice of Request: Period within which a person who is the subject of a request may make a written submission to the Authority regarding the request, including legal privilege claims.
• 90 days from the date of issue of the Notice: Confidentiality period during which a subject of a Notice of Request may not disclose the fact of receipt or particulars of the request, except to their attorney-at-law.
• five working days of the transmission of the fax or email: Deadline to forward the original written submission to the Authority where the submission was initially made by fax or email.