Turks & Caicos Executive
Summary
The Turks & Caicos Islands are located
in the Caribbean
The
Islands are a dependent territory of the UK with
self-rule under a Governor and an elected legislative
council. The 14 islands, south-east of the Bahamas,
have land area of 430 sq km and a population of
19,000 'Belongers' plus expatriates; the culture
is mostly Afro-Caribbean. The climate is sub-tropical;
average daily temperature ranges from 17 to 30
Celsius; there can be hurricanes. The time zone
is 4 hours behind GMT.
The official language is English and the legal
system is largely derived from English law. There
are international airports with daily flights
to Miami (90 minutes) and more infrequent flights
to other US cities and London. The currency is
the US dollar. Unemployment is high, but good
growth has been improving matters, although there
are skills shortages. Work and residence permits
are available for most activities, but can be
pricey.
The economy is dependent on tourism, fishing
and financial services
The
Government encourages tourism which pulls in more
than 100,000 visitors a year, and has also created
TCInvest, to encourage inward investment with
incentives. Financial services developed rapidly
in the 90s, and there are more than 20,000 offshore
enterprises, mostly using the International Business
(Exempt) Company form. The key offshore sectors
are banking, insurance and trust management. The
Islands have a popular yacht registry. There is
a reasonable level of professional expertise on
the Islands and costs are low by comparison with
many jurisdictions.
There is almost no taxation
There
are no income, capital, inheritance or general
sales taxes. Government revenue comes mainly from
import duties, stamp duty and business licenses;
there are some taxes on tourism. There are no
tax treaties and the Islands' mutual assistance
arrangements with other countries do not include
fiscal crime.
In
February, 2004, the government, under pressure
from the UK, committed itself to implementing
the European Union's Savings Tax Directive, subject
to the creation of a level playing field on the
issue for all offshore and onshore jurisdictions.
The Directive came into effect on July 1, 2005.
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