On 3 March I wrote to the Chief Officers Finance (Jefferson) and Lands (jones)

I made the following query:

1.       That all UK senior members of the RCIPS have fulfilled their stamp

duty obligations for the years 2009-2015 for rented accommodation and/or unregistered leases.

2.       That all foreign employees of CIG have fulfilled their stamp duty

obligations for the years 2009-2015 for rented accommodation and/or unregistered leases.

3.       Amounts collected by CIG for stamp duty under Section 20(4) for the

years 2009-2015 for rented accommodation and/or unregistered leases.

4.       Section 30(1)enforcement action taken by your portfolio for stamp

duty under Section 20(4) for the years 2009-2015 for rented accommodation and/or unregistered leases.

Jones sent several emails in which he referred the matter to junior officers stating inter alia

On a general note I have to comment that it is impossible for LS (or anyone else) to be able to confirm that SD has been paid on all leases taken out by a certain group of people ,since there is just no way of knowing all of the contractual leases that exist. Bear in mind that some agreements of of the verbal variety. That is not to say that there isn't a legal requirement on the part of the lessee to pay SD and/or register the lease (when the term is over the prescribed term). However, in practice there is no way of knowing what leases (particularly of the residential type) exist at any one point in time.

I replied:

 The easiest way to ensure compliance is to email the relevant government employees or their HR officer to determine if they are in compliance with the Stamp Duty and paying their fair share into the revenue of the Cayman Islands.

 The Minister of Finance then stated:

 These are very valid concerns and I am interested in any way in which the CIG will improve the efficiency and effectiveness in collecting stamp duty revenue on leases.

 My response to this was to criticize them /CIG and complain to the Auditor General:

 The importance of this critical failure of CIG can be determined from the example of the RCIPS COP who has been resident here for almost 6 years. If he had been paying stamp duty on rental accommodation of $2,000 p.m. the stamp duty payable would be CI$ 7,200 or almost US$10,000.

 When multiplied by the number of expatriate officers in the RCIPS and expatriate employees of the CIG the stamp duty payable runs into the millions, to be exponentially increased for work permit holders.

My comment to for the press was:

It has been a complete failure of management by an austerity regime that has seen important public services reduced while persons, especially in positions of integrity, fail to comply with the law for which there can be no excuse .

Those in breach must face the court as have the over ten thousand Caymanians with criminal convictions for infractions of the law however minor.

To: 'Archer, Marco'

Cc: 'Franz.Manderson@gov.ky'; 'Alan.Jones@gov.ky'; 'Kenneth.Jefferson@gov.ky'; 'garnet.harrison@oag.gov.ky'; 'martin.ruben@oag.gov.ky'

Subject: Compliance Complaint : Section 20(4) STAMP DUTY LAW (2013 Revision)

Minister

Thanks for your reply.

The importance of this critical failure of CIG can be determined from the example of the RCIPS COP who has been resident here for almost 6 years. If he had been paying stamp duty on rental accommodation of $2,000 p.m. the stamp duty payable would be CI$ 7,200 or almost US$10,000.

When multiplied by the number of expatriate officers in the RCIPS and expatriate employees of the CIG the stamp duty payable runs into the millions, to be exponentially increased for work permit holders.

Your chief officer has sought to misdirect this enquiry into an FOI request attached hereto. It is suggested that the Chief Officer for the Ministry of Finance familiarize himself with the provisions of Section 29 of the Public Service Management Law as he will be facing further inquiry from the Deputy Governor at my request after completion of his full response hopefully before the next election.

To give Chief Officer Jones his credit he made an attempt to acknowledge the queries directly while deploying the well-worn civil service strategy of passing the buck to junior officers.

Transparency like charity begins at home and it would be helpful if the Attorney-General as the highest law enforcement officer in the Cayman islands voluntarily and expeditiously declares his compliance with this Stamp Duty Law requirement.

This position would equally apply to the COP as chairman of the ACC.

The Ministry of Finance failures in Care Pay and Nation Building Fund before your election dealt with  misuse of CIG funds. This is a matter of gross negligence or other conduct to be determined in the future by those charged with securing CIG revenue.

It has been a complete failure of management by an austerity regime that has seen important public services reduced while persons, especially in positions of integrity, fail to comply with the law for which there is no excuse .

In the circumstances of the pitiful response thus far, this matter is referred to the Auditor-General.

Regards

Peter Polack