Uh, Oh
- Thread starter Insta-Gator
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
EastEndDiver
Contributor
Mark Derail
Contributor
Phew, this won't apply to me, only for foreign (non-Cayman citizens) making a salary in Cayman Islands.
Bad news for all the skilled labour working in Cayman though.
It will affect the diving community, many dm's / instructors are on work permits while being citizens of the US or UK. Most locals have taken no interest in diving. My opinion based on dive-related personel I talked to.
Ten percent is quite high to start off at.
Taxation in the Cayman Islands should be only on luxury items bought by individuals (not corporations). Tax too much, though, and the "rich retired" will go elsewhere.
Bad news for all the skilled labour working in Cayman though.
It will affect the diving community, many dm's / instructors are on work permits while being citizens of the US or UK. Most locals have taken no interest in diving. My opinion based on dive-related personel I talked to.
Ten percent is quite high to start off at.
Taxation in the Cayman Islands should be only on luxury items bought by individuals (not corporations). Tax too much, though, and the "rich retired" will go elsewhere.
Don't worry - it doesn't affect dive pros. It is only for those on incomes above $20,000. 
Seriously though, I was just in Grand Cayman last week and there was a lot of outrage being expressed, mostly over the discriminatory aspects. But also a lot of people reckon the proposal is just a "stalking horse" to flush out public opinion before the "real plan" is put out there. This seems to be part of the ongoing war of words between the Premier, McKeeva Bush, and the British FCO who keeps refusing to pass his (unbalanced) budget and keeps pressuring him to introduce direct taxation.
Seriously though, I was just in Grand Cayman last week and there was a lot of outrage being expressed, mostly over the discriminatory aspects. But also a lot of people reckon the proposal is just a "stalking horse" to flush out public opinion before the "real plan" is put out there. This seems to be part of the ongoing war of words between the Premier, McKeeva Bush, and the British FCO who keeps refusing to pass his (unbalanced) budget and keeps pressuring him to introduce direct taxation.
Local discussion has mentioned that this probably won't fly under ECHR which specifically prohibits discrimination on national origin in relation to another covered right. Right to personal property is a covered right. 1+2= no way.
What this has done is spark some real discussion about what government should be prioritizing. There are lots of things we'd all like government to do if money wasn't an issue. But since it is... should be give millions to local churches through a national building fund or provide the police with a helicopter for air support and search and rescue operations? Should we use public funds to pave private driveways or to fill potholes on public roads? And so on...
What this has done is spark some real discussion about what government should be prioritizing. There are lots of things we'd all like government to do if money wasn't an issue. But since it is... should be give millions to local churches through a national building fund or provide the police with a helicopter for air support and search and rescue operations? Should we use public funds to pave private driveways or to fill potholes on public roads? And so on...
EastEndDiver
Contributor
Drew if I owned a church and the driveway needed repaving and I had a church member who was the Premier trying to buy votes I would.......oopppsss forget this post.
Of course the proposal is a "community enhancement fee", not an income tax. Obama and John Roberts would be proud of that distinction?
It is to be charged at the rate of 10% on wages in excess of CI$20,00 per year. The assumption is that the financial pros are already busy rewriting contracts.
Soon every accountant will earn $20,000 in wages. And a housing allowance. And a transportation allowance. Add on a performance bonus. A Christmas bonus. Educational benefits. Family relocation credits. A holiday benefit. Preferred stock. Interest on an employee benefit trust. And anything else that won't qualify to be taxed.
Whether any such community enhancement fee could be implemented and actually collect more than the cost of implementation and enforcement is an open question. There is not currently a mechanism in place to collect this fee so a whole new set of civil servants would need to be hired on to make it work.
It is to be charged at the rate of 10% on wages in excess of CI$20,00 per year. The assumption is that the financial pros are already busy rewriting contracts.
Soon every accountant will earn $20,000 in wages. And a housing allowance. And a transportation allowance. Add on a performance bonus. A Christmas bonus. Educational benefits. Family relocation credits. A holiday benefit. Preferred stock. Interest on an employee benefit trust. And anything else that won't qualify to be taxed.
Whether any such community enhancement fee could be implemented and actually collect more than the cost of implementation and enforcement is an open question. There is not currently a mechanism in place to collect this fee so a whole new set of civil servants would need to be hired on to make it work.
keyshunter
Contributor
Makes perfect sense from a political standpoint. Expats cannot vote, so that is the preferred group to piss off.
Similar threads
