Isle of Man Today is reporting:
COULD there be a fresh threat to the Isle of Man from Europe as finance ministers from the world's leading economies prepare to a launch their latest assault on tax havens? The European Council has announced it wants real progress at next week's G20 summit in Cannes on ‘combating the existence of tax havens'.This agenda item is shown completely separate from another that seeks progress on ‘identifying and publicly listing non-cooperative jurisdictions'.
And as they note, this looks ominous:
Island-based lawyer Jonathan Smalley believes this separation of the two issues is a major new development, and one which sheds a new light on the real thrust of EU policy.
He said: ‘If this is not a declaration of war, it sound very like it. It is likely that the EU and the G20 will interpret “tax havens” broadly. The term is likely to include low tax jurisdictions, offshore/international financial centres and the Isle of Man.'
'It seems in the modern world that being a cooperative jurisdiction is not enough. We may have outmanoeuvred the EU on the zero/10 debate by abolishing the attribution system, so that the island can keep its zero per cent corporate tax rate. The EU have now changed the game. It is our existence — along with other small jurisdictions and part of the UK's tax laws — that really concerns them and they intend to combat it.'
So you've realised 'smart moves' with the EU aren't enough? Well, welcome to the real world; the one where abuse is not appreciated and where it is realised that is all you are about.
I'm aware that the OECD is making soft noises - but as I'll note later today, they're now part of the problem on tax havens and it is clear the G20 is beginning to realise that the OECD toothless approach is no solution to the revenue loss EU and other countries are suffering to tax havens.
The Isle of Man is right to be worried.
And I welcome this lawyer's frank admission that they're a tax haven. A little honest self reflection might go a a long way in Douglas right now.
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The Isle of Man, manipulate by the City of London, pretends to be an autonomous jurisdiction. The reality the Isle of Man has formed an alliance with “finance industry” to create a formidable arsenal of tax dodging financial structures. Signing up to the (already discredited) OECD sponsored information exchange agreements, is simply a smokescreen to divert attention to the island’s main business – corporate and individual tax dodging on an industrial scale.
Secrecy is not the only factor: Unabashed indifference to the welfare of the thousands who live on the island and many millions of others across the globe is also fundamental to their activities.
Thankfully the end is nigh.
The reality the Isle of Man has formed an alliance with “finance industry” to create a formidable arsenal of tax dodging financial structures. Signing up to the (already discredited) OECD sponsored information exchange agreements, is simply a smokescreen to divert attention to the island’s main business – corporate and individual tax dodging on an industrial scale.
Secrecy is not the only factor: Unabashed indifference to the welfare of the thousands who live on the island and many millions of others across the globe is also fundamental to the government’s activities.
Thankfully the end is neigh.
Bank depositors who lost money in the Isle of Man subsidiary of Kaupthing Bank (Iceland) were hoping that the parental guarantee given to the Isle of Man bank by its parent and recently upheld as valid by the Icelandic Supreme Court…would enable them to recover all or most of the eventual shortfall in their liquidation
But now the Court has ruled that this the “guarantee” must be considered as unsecured, and thus not a priority claim,.
Depositors in this Isle of Man based bank remain the only retail depositors not to have been fully compensated by government intervention. Another murky episode revealing ineptitude and intrigue inside Isle of Man government and the island’s financial services regulatory body.
Hi Richard
If you could convince the UK government to implement one reform as regards the British offshore islands what would it be? Impose IETs on them all? Or is adopting country by country accounting the silver bullet?
Problem is of course I cant see any UK government getting serious about it. The City of London and its offshore network is too powerful.
Full automatic information exchange on all structures within them from which the residents of other states benefit or can potentially benefit
This would shatter their secrecy for good and their business of abuse with it