Government minister Laurence Skelly has spoken of his hopes for ‘social investing’ in the island after he was invited to a high-profile gathering in Downing Street. Social investment is finance that generates social as well as economic returns. Mr Skelly, who is in the hot seat at the Department of… – Continue reading
Introduction Malta is increasingly becoming a financial services centre of repute looked at by a number of financial services operators as the ideal platform to set up their private pension schemes. Malta’s success is attributable to the flexible and prudent manner in which the industry is regulated, providing the desired… – Continue reading
The US Foreign Account and Tax Compliance Act is a complex piece of legislation that has, unsurprisingly, triggered a number of enquiries in recent months from advisers seeking to understand the implications for them and their clients. So, what do you need to know? Fatca is a US Internal Revenue… – Continue reading
Business editor Duncan Foulkes quizzes three prominent Isle of Man businessmen on their thoughts ——————– Chris Eaton, Chief Executive Officer, The ILS Group There is no one major issue or initiative that faces the CSP and TSP sectors in 2015. Rather, they face more of a continued barrage of supra… – Continue reading
A tax information exchange agreement signed between the Isle of Man and Lesotho has come into force. The government says it’s part of its programme of developing closer economic and taxation co-operation with other countries around the world. It was signed in September 2013 in London by Treasury Minister Eddie… – Continue reading
Easy access drawdown rules for Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme (QROPS) come with a twist in the tail. The Treasury and HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) have confirmed QROPS are included in pension reforms that start from April 6, 2015 – which means retirement savers can access their QROPS fund… – Continue reading
While the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) has focused worldwide attention on U.S. efforts to create a mandatory cross-border exchange of tax information, the enactment of FATCA was not an isolated occurrence. For more than a decade, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has been trying to… – Continue reading
The total number of new company registrations increased across offshore jurisdictions in the first half of 2014, according to Appleby, a provider of offshore legal, fiduciary and administration services. In the first half of 2014, there were 46,455 new offshore company incorporations, representing a 4% increase on the preceding six… – Continue reading
Scottish Widows is considering the sale of offshore investment and tax planning business Clerical Medical International, the Financial Times reports. The Isle of Man-based business, acquired by Lloyds Banking Group as part of the HBOS deal in 2008, currently manages around £5bn in policyholder funds. The Isle of Man-based business,… – Continue reading
It feels like FATCA has been around for years already, yet some companies are still coming to terms with its implications. However, as Kirsten Morel explains, impending deadlines are now creating a real sense of urgency It’s four years since US Congress enacted the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA),… – Continue reading
Lloyds Banking Group’s insurance arm Scottish Widows has put its offshore investment and tax planning business up for sale in the latest sign that dealmaking in the sector is heating up. Several parties have expressed an interest in the Isle of Man-based operation, which manages about £5bn of policyholders’ funds,… – Continue reading
Bonds of Greenko Group Plc fell to a record after India’s central bank banned the method used by the hydro and wind power company to raise funds from overseas. The company used an offshore entity to sell U.S. dollar notes at a spread higher than the limit set by the… – Continue reading
A former HM Revenue and Customs Policy Advisor delivered an insightful and informative talk during a seminar held by PwC at the Manx Museum. Phil Morris, Senior Manager at PwC Isle of Man, introduced guest speaker Neil Higgins, who delivered a timely presentation on the introduction of Common Reporting Standard… – Continue reading
Small- and medium-sized firms are unprepared for tough new US tax reporting legislation, a survey has found. Software firm Blue Bison, part of the Ignition group of companies, found that more than half of respondents to its readiness survey admitted that understanding the requirements of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance… – Continue reading
Backbench MHK John Houghton’s antics in the House of Keys have been branded ‘outrageous’ by the Chief Minister. Mr Houghton was ordered to leave the Keys last week after refusing to apologise for questioning the honesty of the Treasury Minister. Chief Minister Allan Bell said: ‘It seems the election is… – Continue reading
Expats have a range of choices – so how do they find a safe home for their assets? The traditional use of offshore centres as a way of enabling better tax planning – and even tax evasion – has all but fallen away. An increasing desire for countries to share… – Continue reading
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has nominated global tax avoidance as one of the key issues on the agenda for this weekend’s G20 summit in Brisbane. Major companies including Google and Apple have faced strong criticism over their efforts to lower their tax bills by shifting profits to jurisdictions with low… – Continue reading
The departure of a multi-national giant from Manx shores will have no effect on our VAT revenue share, Treasury chiefs insist. As an Isle of Man Examiner investigation revealed back in January 2011, Procter & Gamble’s unassuming office at Brewery Court in Castletown was the unlikely hub of a global… – Continue reading
Papers show firms used internal loans and interest payments to cut tax bills Leaked tax documents show arrangements were signed off by EU state They are legal, but are predicted to trigger calls to stop firms avoiding taxes British companies using scheme include Dyson and drugs group Shire Some of… – Continue reading
Onetime Texas billionaire Sam Wyly and the estate of his late brother Charles just can’t seem to outsmart the Securities and Exchange Commission. Their latest attempt to evade the consequences of their allegedly fraudulent offshore trust scheme failed Monday, when U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin of Manhattan, in a ruling… – Continue reading
Switzerland’s tax information exchange agreements (TIEAs) with Jersey, Guernsey, and the Isle of Man have entered into force and will be effective from January 1, 2015. The Swiss Federal Council announced on November 3 that the treaties entered into force on October 14, 2014. They are the first of Switzerland’s… – Continue reading
Financial institutions based in certain British Overseas Territories (BOTs) and Crown Dependencies (CDs) will be subject to stricter reporting requirements covering accounts held with them by UK resident non-UK domiciled taxpayers from 2016 if specific “carve outs” are not negotiated, an expert has said.31 Oct 2014 Private wealth tax Tax… – Continue reading
DALLAS (CN) – Former Texas billionaire Sam Wyly filed for bankruptcy protection after a federal jury ordered him to pay as much as $400 million for using offshore trusts to hide stock trades. A noted philanthropist and contributor to Republican causes, Wyly, 77, of Dallas, made his fortune… – Continue reading
The Isle of Man is showing great enthusiasm for crypto-currencies – from the landlord at a popular Douglas drinking hole to the Lieutenant Governor, everyone is talking about digital currency and the potentially huge benefits to the Island. The Isle of Man Financial Supervision Commission (FSC) has announced plans to… – Continue reading
MUMBAI: The Isle of Man appellate court last week rejected builder Niranjan Hiranandani’s appeal, challenging its jurisdiction over a case of fraud and misconduct filed against him by Hirco Plc. Hirco, a property investment fund, had raised Rs 3,000 crore from global investors in 2006, to be invested in Hiranandani’s… – Continue reading
Nearly 200 entrepreneurs, enthusiasts, private sector representatives and governmental officials were convened last week for the Crypto Valley Summit 2014 in the Isle of Man to share their points of views on numerous topics involving digital currencies and discuss the opportunities and challenges that is facing the industry. The two-day… – Continue reading
Archaic rules mean the world sees us as a tax haven Think of tax havens and you’ll probably think of Switzerland, Isle of Man and Luxembourg but for the rest of the world, they think of us. You see the UK’s quirky and ancient laws mean we have rules that… – Continue reading
The Isle of Man has signed a Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) with the Kingdom of Swaziland.The TIEA was signed by Eddie Teare MHK, the Isle of Man’s Treasury Minister, in the Isle of Man, and by Senator Martin G. Dlamini, Swaziland’s Minister for Finance, in Swaziland, and exchanged by… – Continue reading
A Tax Information Exchange Agreement with Swaziland has been signed by the Manx government. The TIEA was signed in the island by Treasury Minister Eddie Teare MHK and by Senator Martin G. Dlamini, Swaziland’s Minister for Finance, in the African kingdom, and exchanged by post. Mr Teare said: ‘The signing… – Continue reading
This article was first published in the 2nd quarter 2014 edition of Personal Finance magazine. Most people accept that they have to pay taxes in their country of residence. But citizens of the United States and green card holders who live outside that country – even if they have never… – Continue reading
Expat savers dealing with unfamiliar banks are unlikely to know how much of their cash is protected if the foreign bank goes bust. In Britain, the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) safeguards up to £85,000 held by each person in accounts under a single banking licence. Each building society has… – Continue reading
Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) has been in force for a month and still more countries are joining the tax network. So far, 101 countries and financial jurisdictions have either signed or agreed to join FATCA. FATCA is aimed at identifying US taxpayers with offshore bank accounts and investments. Overseas… – Continue reading
The Isle of Man’s Agreement for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with Respect to Taxes on Income and on Capital with Luxembourg is now in force. The agreement was signed on April 8, 2013 in London between Eddie Teare MHK, the Isle of Man’s… – Continue reading
The Isle of Man, Dubai and Guernsey, all known as captive domiciles, are being joined by a new rival – the US state of Ohio. Legislation has recently been signed meaning that businesses will be able to create captive insurance companies in the state in order to cater for their… – Continue reading
Lawyers from the United States have been advising the Island’s financial services sector how to prepare for in-depth tax investigations. They spoke at a global tax enforcement conference organised by Douglas legal firm Dougherty Quinn at the Villa Marina (3 July). Its aim is to prepare service providers, banks and… – Continue reading
Isle of Man chief minister Allan Bell has labelled tax information exchange agreements (TIEAs) ‘redundant’ and defended the lack of any new double taxation agreements (DTAs) signed by the island since the one with Luxembourg in April last year. The last TIEA it signed bilaterally was with the Czech Republic… – Continue reading
A fool will receive praise and a rich man will receive blame,” is an old Manx saying. Fitting perhaps for the Isle of Man, a state regarded as a tax haven where much-criticised wealthy companies and individuals shelter their money while the rest of us self-congratulatory fools hand over chunks… – Continue reading
(Reuters) – Israel has become the latest country to reach a tax information-sharing agreement with the United States under a new law meant to combat offshore tax dodging by Americans, a U.S. Treasury Department spokesperson said on Thursday. Set to take effect on July 1, the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act of… – Continue reading
Money Week editor-in-chief Merryn Somerset Webb has sparked a new debate on the question of whether the Isle of Man is a tax haven or not. Last week Business News reported how the FT columnist believes the island is a tax haven even though it was pointed out to… – Continue reading
Texas businessman Sam Wyly told jurors on Wednesday he relied on the advice of his former lawyer in determining whether he needed to disclose stock holdings in offshore trusts at the center of a fraud case brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Wyly, who took the stand for… – Continue reading
An Island tax accountant says a UK clampdown on those who place their money offshore to evade tax, is unlikely to trace many culprits in the Isle of Man. Chancellor George Osborne says in future those who try to avoid tax by hiding money offshore will face tougher penalties. At… – Continue reading
BANK of Ireland is set to shutter its offshore banking operations in the Isle of Man following a strategic review. Bank of Ireland had used the Isle of Man as a deposit gathering operation in offshore savings. The bank’s Isle of Man operations had featured prominently in tribunals, with the… – Continue reading
Respected financial journalist Merryn Somerset Webb is fascinated by the Manx pound and believes it is of important interest as the Scottish independence debate rages on. The Financial Times columnist also believes the Isle of Man is still a tax haven even though UK Prime Minister David Cameron has… – Continue reading
SCOTS who hide their money offshore are being targeted in a new offensive against tax evasion that costs the UK Treasury billions of pounds a year. In what are thought to be the first probes of their kind, tax officials and prosecutors have started targeting gangland bank accounts in jurisdictions… – Continue reading
Texas tycoons Sam and Charles Wyly employed a labyrinthine system of offshore trusts to conceal stock trades in four companies on whose boards they sat, netting themselves more than $550 million in undisclosed profits, a U.S. government lawyer told a federal jury on Thursday. “This is a case about lies,… – Continue reading
The Isle of Man, a self-governing British Crown Dependency, is looking mighty interested in digital currencies. On Wednesday, the island’s Financial Supervision Commission(FSC) affirmed that “a Bitcoin exchange that holds client funds with a licensed overseas payment service provider is not required to obtain a license in the country for its… – Continue reading
Switzerland and Argentina have recently signed a new agreement for the avoidance of double taxation with respect to taxes on income and on capital. The treaty replaces the provisional agreement of 1997 and provides for the exchange of information upon request, in line with the current international standard. This is… – Continue reading
A visit to China by twelve Isle of Man delegates could soon produce “tangible results” for the Manx economy, according to the chief minister. On Wednesday Allan Bell signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in the northern Chinese port of Tianjin. The agreement concretes an alliance aiming to provide “mutually… – Continue reading
France’s disgraced former budget minister Jerôme Cahuzac, who was sacked after admitting he hid funds in a Swiss account, also had a €2.5 million stashed in a secret bank account in the Isle of Man, a British tax haven, it was claimed on Thursday. Cahuzac’s estranged wife Patricia admitted the… – Continue reading
Some states are going after multinational corporations which avoid state taxes by stashing some of their earnings in offshore tax havens, an effort aimed at recouping some of the more than $20 billion states lose to such gimmicks each year. Shifting income to subsidiaries in places like the Cayman Islands… – Continue reading
