Manx Herald Isle of Man

UK PM wants greater tax transparency in crown dependencies

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 07:50:00 -0400

"The Prime Minister also met this week with Michael Foot who is leading the independent review into British offshore financial centres announced in the PBR. The Prime Minister emphasised the importance of the review and stressed the need for our crown dependencies and overseas territories to be ready to adhere to the new international standards on tax transparency."

Not Albert Einstein

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 14:21:32 -0400

No one transfers their money to the Isle of Man because it is a center of excellence for fund management... the Island is a shady place and inevitably it attracts shady people.

However some people do locate their savings on the island simply because they are unable to open a bank account anywhere else - or because they have been seduced by an investment fund’s glossy brochure.

These people are not dodging the taxman and so have nothing to hide although on occaisions the Island’s regulatory authorities appear to treat them as an inferior life form.

Tax havens in general are responsible for the UK suffering a massive loss of corporate and personal income tax revenue…. Innocent British tax payers suffer and developing countries endure losses up to $l60 billion a year in corporate tax revenue.

The UK government must establish the constitutional and oversight relationship it has with semi-autonomous tax havens such as the Isle of Man to ensure that the UK exchequer receives appropriate contributions and the regulatory authorities comply with professional standards.

To quote one influential UK politician - “Our taxmen are like fat policemen running after a speeding Ferrari; they need all the help that they can get."

Jim

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 14:26:31 -0400

Let the people of the IoM be in no doubt that Gordon Brown's 'time's up' notice and the Kaupthing debacle is unquestioningly the beginning of the end for the IoM as an off-shore financial centre.

The IoM Government has nothing with which to bargain to resist the disclosure & rooting out of abhorrent banking practices on the Island that enable ultra-rich people to illegally evade paying tax.

Middle Britain is sick & tired of paying for everything whilst fat cats and their hangers-on swan around the world in obscene luxury. The Crown Dependencies of the IoM, Jersey & Guernsey will be the first to be required to meet the new regulations to stamp out tax evasion & secret bank practices that are a contributory factor in the international financial crisis.

The exodus from the Island of deposits and financial agencies has already begun. The AAA credit rating is less valid now than it was in February.

Jim

Derek James

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 17:28:57 -0400

So we see that the UK was (and still is) just using the KSF depositors as a weapon against the IoM. I considered the IoM a 'tax haven' but was forced to open an account here as I had no UK address and so could not keep my UK accounts. I had opened the account to facilitate the transfer of my familes savings, unwillingly, to where I now exist ('living' ended a long time ago).

The UK Government have been devious, nasty, negligent and morally corrupt. The IoM Government have really just been naive fools.

And stuck in the middle, being used as disposable pawns, ordinary everyday folk. One or two rich fat cat tax dodgers, maybe. But on the whole, ordinary everyday folk.

It has been a shameful six months for the UK Government and I hope the Manx people realise that we were never at odds with them and that their House of Keys is more a club than a serious Government.

Brian Mallett

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 17:30:30 -0400

It seems to me that Her Majesty's Government already benefits from the huge amount of money being invested through the City of London from deposits made in the Isle of Man.
With the current KSF IoM fiasco it is likely that there is now less money being invested thrugh the City of london than there was before KSF IoM was taken into administration. It has been said that the City of London is one of the largest offshore centres in the World.

RL

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 04:17:01 -0400

The Manx Gov should really be paying attention to what David Cameron's view on all this is,as after mid 2010, both Brown and Darling will no doubt be stacking shelves at Tesco.They will both face the same employment position as us,but sadly not the same financial one following their major role in the KSF dabacle.

David Johnson

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 04:47:52 -0400

Yet more erudite journalism from the Manx Herald bringing a breath of fresh air to the fetid stench of corruption inside the Isle of Man government.

Yes the Island is a shady place attracting shady characters encouraged by an increasingly shady government. Some Isle of Man based investment schemes were sold with the assistance of commission-driven, unqualified, unregistered, heartless, smooth talking conmen to pensioners in their seventies.

This amounts to nothing less than abusing the elderly and robbing the aged of their life savings.

The perpetrators of these schemes are in many instances highly skilled and seemingly professional and trustworthy businessmen. Such con-artists can take even the most wary of us off our guard.

What has the Financial Supervision Commission done about it? Nothing!

Give the islanders 48 hours to leave and then hand it over to the RAF, Army and Navy for target practice?

On second thoughts at least we know the whereabouts of these shady characters so better to fence the place off and keep them under ‘island arrest’ powerless to rob any more innocent people.

Manx Codger

Tue, 05 May 2009 02:26:57 -0400

With Mr Obama having recently reiterated his plan to crack down on tax loop holes, does anyone have an idea of just how impacted the Isle of Man is likely to be? http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8032747.stm

What about the effect of the UK's tax transparency demands? Who's got the data on what the economic impact of this is on the Isle of Man? Are we to be kept in the dark?

Am I right in believing that when there is no tax incentive to "offshore" the money, that much of it will stop being placed "offshore"?

David R Morrison

Thu, 07 May 2009 22:59:34 -0400

I listened to the House of Keys Q&A session on the 5th May.
The comfort, relief Mr Brown, and various other MHKs felt after the stamp of approval from the G20 and Mr Foots visit was obvious. Makes you wonder what they were worried about, does it not?
Does it not occur to Mr Brown that it is obvious that the IoM-s recent push to sign some belated bi-lateral agreements actually fools no-one.
The measures of Obama are not only a muisance they are going to redirect billions of dollars.
The situation with the UK is not so clear. The behaviour of Barclays stands out. If the UK cleans up their own act then the financial advantages the IoM enjoys from the muddy waters will change. Who knows how much.
Meanwhile I look on with bemusement.