WE’RE NOT A TAX HAVEN, SAYS ISLE OF MAN MINISTER

AN ISLE of Man minister has insisted the island is not an offshore tax haven – despite it having more than 30,000 registered companies, while it population below 85,000.

Speaking on RTÉ Radio 1’s News at One, Laurence Skelly, minister for economic development for the Isle of Man, also said that ‘if anyone is doing any of this aggressive or abusive tax avoidance activity, they will feel the full force of the law’.

Explaining the island’s tax system, he said: ‘What we do here on the Isle of Man is actually follow UK rules and regulations around this particular matter, so we do have regulations in place which is common in regards to the EU too.’

He continued: ‘With regards to VAT we follow the UK’s laws, regulations and policies so any VAT that’s paid here is the same that it would be paid in the UK or even the EU.’

The rates of corporation tax, capital gains tax, inheritance tax and stamp duty are all 0% on the island. However, Mr Skelly said the Isle of Man does have income tax, national insurance tax and VAT. He added: ‘We have a competitive tax rate regime here but we do attract legitimate business, we’re well governed and a responsible nation and we’ve adopted all international tax transparency standards, so we adhere to international standards, particularly OECD.

‘We’ve also just signed up to a new international treaty with regards to the OECD and we were actually the second nation, so we’ve actually been the first mover with regards to these international standards.

‘I think that’s probably demonstrated for the best part of the last decade... that we are transparent but we are also competitive.’