Gibraltar. A Quick Overview.
Economy, Investment Climate, Government Structure, Offshore Financial Sector & Taxation

Gibraltar is self governing but a dependent territory of the United Kingdom, and entered the European Union along with the UK. It does not belong to the EU's VAT, CAP or common external tariff regimes. However Gibraltar has implemented much EU financial legislation and can apply Common European Passport regulations in the insurance, banking and fund management spheres. In practice there are sometimes difficulties connected with the long-running row between the UK and Spain over Gibraltar's status.

The official language is English but Spanish is widely used. The British military and naval base once dominated Gibraltar's economy but no more, leaving behind a highly-educated population with high unemployment. The excellent port facilities have not yet been fully reutilised. Tourism has become a major contributor to the economy, particularly visits by cruise ships. The airport connects with the UK and some other destinations, but it's necessary to cross into Spain for wider connections.

Gibraltar was one of the first of the British dependent territories to develop tax-exempt corporate forms for offshore business. It has quite high internal income taxes, but offers low-tax regimes to both companies and individuals, as well as incentives for incoming investment. It is probably the cheapest European offshore jurisdiction in which to operate but is smaller than many of its rivals. There is a sophisticated business and professional infrastructure. Business sectors with offshore activity include banking, insurance, investment fund management, trust management, shipping, and investment holding companies. Lately there has been an influx of UK betting and gaming operations fleeing high taxes and using the very good telecommunications facilities to offer Internet betting services.

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