6 ms·

"And speaking of finance, the island has no capital gains tax, stamp duty or inheritance tax, making it an enticing prospect for many." This one sentence sums

"And speaking of finance, the island has no capital gains tax, stamp duty or inheritance tax, making it an enticing prospect for many." This one sentence sums up why the Isle of Man exists the way it does. What a puff piece. Britain/UK/whatever are full of these little places to hide your money. That's all this is. Yet another crowny thing that allows the rich to avoid paying their due in an undemocratic society.

Slimbo 7y ago
How do you separate avoidance of tax with competition between taxation venues? The IOM (and other small jurisdictions) cannot compete with larger countries on manufacturing and other big industry, but their small size and low cost of government allows them to be very competitive with Tax. If an individual is able to move his finances out of a country to a more competitive jurisdiction, isn't' that the fault of the original country rather than the more competitive one?
- thefounder 7y ago
  >> If an individual is able to move his finances out of a country to a more competitive jurisdiction, isn't' that the fault of the original country rather than the more competitive one? You don't understand how secrecy works. A simple way to evade tax is to set-up a company in the tax heaven and send "fake" bills or loans to the real company. Without cooperation of the tax heaven country there is little the on-shore country can do except to black-list the said tax heaven from the financial market. As it happens special interests groups from the UK opposed a black-list of Isle of Man or Virgin Island. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/dec/05/eu-blacklist-names-17-tax-havens-and-puts-caymans-and-jersey-on-notice https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/dec/05/eu-blacklis...
- brazzy 7y ago
  > If an individual is able to move his finances out of a country to a more competitive jurisdiction, isn't' that the fault of the original country rather than the more competitive one? If the "competitive jurisdiction" allows people to "move their finances" there without actually living or doing real business there, then that "jurisdiction" is in fact a parasite.
  - barry-cotter 7y ago
    Indeed, and the countries that want that money can use force and other means of persuasion to take it. International law is a farce. “The strong do what they will and the weak suffer what they must.” The US or other Great Powers can force less powerful countries to do what they want, when they want to. If that’s protecting the holdings of US companies in Latin America or dictating the tax policies of other countries the disrespect for other’s sovereignty is the same.
smcl 7y ago
Yep there's plenty of fun little offshore places if you're so inclined. However we also have an onshore tax haven of sorts - the City of London: https://www.newstatesman.com/economy/2011/02/london-corporation-city https://www.newstatesman.com/economy/2011/02/london-corporat...
- Nadge 7y ago
  This was a great read, thank you.
- twic 7y ago
  This article is a really fun read, but it is fundamentally mendacious: the City is not, in fact, a tax haven. You can't dodge tax, as a person or a company, by moving to the City, or being involved with the City in some special way. There are certainly people in the City who will help you move your money into tax havens. But then there are people in Loughborough who will do that, and we don't describe Loughborough as a tax haven.
marcusjt 7y ago
This is an incredible documentary about British tax havens and the influence of the City of London in the running of UK government & foreign policy https://youtu.be/np_ylvc8Zj8 https://youtu.be/np_ylvc8Zj8
- teh_klev 7y ago
  I agree, this is well worth watching.
mprev 7y ago
This isn’t how the IOM’s status came to be, though. Man has been an independent state for longer than the UK has existed. Now, the question is could it realistically exist without the support of the UK? We could ask the same question of San Marino and Italy or Andorra and France/Spain. IOM as it is today, though, is unusually able to be influenced by its wealthy residents. I once heard a very wealth individual say he moved there not for the tax benefits but because he could have greater influence over the government in such a small nation.

Slimbo 7y ago

How do you separate avoidance of tax with competition between taxation venues? The IOM (and other small jurisdictions) cannot compete with larger countries on manufacturing and other big industry, but their small size and low cost of government allows them to be very competitive with Tax. If an individual is able to move his finances out of a country to a more competitive jurisdiction, isn't' that the fault of the original country rather than the more competitive one?

thefounder 7y ago
>> If an individual is able to move his finances out of a country to a more competitive jurisdiction, isn't' that the fault of the original country rather than the more competitive one? You don't understand how secrecy works. A simple way to evade tax is to set-up a company in the tax heaven and send "fake" bills or loans to the real company. Without cooperation of the tax heaven country there is little the on-shore country can do except to black-list the said tax heaven from the financial market. As it happens special interests groups from the UK opposed a black-list of Isle of Man or Virgin Island. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/dec/05/eu-blacklist-names-17-tax-havens-and-puts-caymans-and-jersey-on-notice https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/dec/05/eu-blacklis...
brazzy 7y ago
> If an individual is able to move his finances out of a country to a more competitive jurisdiction, isn't' that the fault of the original country rather than the more competitive one? If the "competitive jurisdiction" allows people to "move their finances" there without actually living or doing real business there, then that "jurisdiction" is in fact a parasite.
- barry-cotter 7y ago
  Indeed, and the countries that want that money can use force and other means of persuasion to take it. International law is a farce. “The strong do what they will and the weak suffer what they must.” The US or other Great Powers can force less powerful countries to do what they want, when they want to. If that’s protecting the holdings of US companies in Latin America or dictating the tax policies of other countries the disrespect for other’s sovereignty is the same.

smcl 7y ago

Yep there's plenty of fun little offshore places if you're so inclined. However we also have an onshore tax haven of sorts - the City of London: https://www.newstatesman.com/economy/2011/02/london-corporation-city https://www.newstatesman.com/economy/2011/02/london-corporat...

Nadge 7y ago
This was a great read, thank you.
twic 7y ago
This article is a really fun read, but it is fundamentally mendacious: the City is not, in fact, a tax haven. You can't dodge tax, as a person or a company, by moving to the City, or being involved with the City in some special way. There are certainly people in the City who will help you move your money into tax havens. But then there are people in Loughborough who will do that, and we don't describe Loughborough as a tax haven.

marcusjt 7y ago

This is an incredible documentary about British tax havens and the influence of the City of London in the running of UK government & foreign policy https://youtu.be/np_ylvc8Zj8 https://youtu.be/np_ylvc8Zj8

teh_klev 7y ago
I agree, this is well worth watching.

mprev 7y ago

This isn’t how the IOM’s status came to be, though. Man has been an independent state for longer than the UK has existed. Now, the question is could it realistically exist without the support of the UK? We could ask the same question of San Marino and Italy or Andorra and France/Spain. IOM as it is today, though, is unusually able to be influenced by its wealthy residents. I once heard a very wealth individual say he moved there not for the tax benefits but because he could have greater influence over the government in such a small nation.