Live data from Hacker News

The Isle of Man is not in the UK

bbc.com

81–90 of 211 posts

Re: The Isle of Man is not in the UK

#81
post #59

Isle of Man has zero percent corporate tax on (most) money earned outside the Isle of Man, which includes money earned in the UK. If you're a non-resident citizen of the UK, you can deposit your dividends from your Isle of Man company in your UK bank account, tax free. For the time being, IOM companies have GB VAT numbers, and a banking system that integrates seamlessly with the UK one, as well as a postal system (qu…

After living in the UK for a year and encountering this tax system firsthand, I'm convinced that one of the main reasons for Brexit is that rich people in England are worried that EU tax harmonization could one day take away their sweet loopholes and convenient neighborhood tax havens. I've personally benefitted from the system as a "resident non-domiciled" foreign citizen. But on the whole it's not fair to British t…

> I'm convinced that one of the main reasons for Brexit is that rich people in England are worried that EU tax harmonization

it's coming January 2020, the UK is terrified of it as they own overseas tax havens all over the world.

https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/policies/anti-tax-avoidan...

Re: The Isle of Man is not in the UK

#82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I lived for four years in the IoM, had an amazing time (until Bushy's closed anyway). But in the process, I opened an IoM bank account to pay my salary into. I carried on using this account for years afterwards (it was with the IoM branch of a UK bank). I benefited from not paying any tax on the interest on my savings account, because tax haven. Not a huge perk, but a nice one anyway. And then, in the wake of the tax…

>The final bill came to about fifty quid, I'm thinking you weren't really who they wanted to target anyway.

indeed :) But still a good lesson.

Re: The Isle of Man is not in the UK

#83
post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How would that be easier than VAT fraud in the UK proper?

"Carousel fraud", involving moving goods in and out of the EU and reclaiming VAT, maybe? Or the private jet / yacht scheme I mentioned above. I remember when Amazon shipped all their CDs from Jersey to avoid VAT too.

Not just Amazon either.

Play.com based their entire business on this.

Re: The Isle of Man is not in the UK

#84

"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.

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

Re: The Isle of Man is not in the UK

#85
post #59

Isle of Man has zero percent corporate tax on (most) money earned outside the Isle of Man, which includes money earned in the UK. If you're a non-resident citizen of the UK, you can deposit your dividends from your Isle of Man company in your UK bank account, tax free. For the time being, IOM companies have GB VAT numbers, and a banking system that integrates seamlessly with the UK one, as well as a postal system (qu…

After living in the UK for a year and encountering this tax system firsthand, I'm convinced that one of the main reasons for Brexit is that rich people in England are worried that EU tax harmonization could one day take away their sweet loopholes and convenient neighborhood tax havens. I've personally benefitted from the system as a "resident non-domiciled" foreign citizen. But on the whole it's not fair to British t…

>After living in the UK for a year and encountering this tax system firsthand, I'm convinced that one of the main reasons for Brexit is that rich people in England are worried that EU tax harmonization could one day take away their sweet loopholes and convenient neighborhood tax havens.

It's the same reason they hate Corbyn with such a seething passion too, and McDonnell even more (McDonnell quipped that he found the "magic money tree"; it was growing in overseas tax havens).

Re: The Isle of Man is not in the UK

#86
> “Independence is a strong part of the character of the people of the island. We’re not part of the UK, or the British Isles – we’re Manx,” said Phil Gawne, a former politician on the island...

Hmm.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Isles

> The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic off the north-western coast of continental Europe that consist of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Hebrides and over six thousand smaller isles.

Wikipedia disagrees.

Over the years, I've harbored a growing suspicion that the political Venn diagram surrounding the UK and associated entities has reached the point of such complexity that even the natives can't follow it.

(Not that I think that Americans know the US's territorial classification system either, but...)

Re: The Isle of Man is not in the UK

#87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I lived for four years in the IoM, had an amazing time (until Bushy's closed anyway). But in the process, I opened an IoM bank account to pay my salary into. I carried on using this account for years afterwards (it was with the IoM branch of a UK bank). I benefited from not paying any tax on the interest on my savings account, because tax haven. Not a huge perk, but a nice one anyway. And then, in the wake of the tax…

>The final bill came to about fifty quid, I'm thinking you weren't really who they wanted to target anyway.

Sometimes it feels like the taxman is very keen on targeting Joe Ordinary who saved fifty quid, and completely ignoring the billionaires who evaded tens of millions in taxes.

Re: The Isle of Man is not in the UK

#89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whenever the voters vote the wrong way the EU subverts it with the result in effect being overturned in one way or another, so the UK will probably end up staying in and this ATAD will be implemented.

For those downvoting, there is truth in this e.g.: * Ireland voting (twice) on the Nice Treaty - 2001 then 2002 * Denmark voting (twice) Maastricht Treaty - first 1992 then 1993 * Ireland (again) this time on the Lisbon Treaty - 2008 then 2009 There was also a case where the Labour government (in the UK) promised a referendum on a couple of EU treaty changes, before changing their mind after other countries' referend…

Denmark still has 4 opt-outs from EU because of the Maastricht treaty vote. Abolishment of these is regularly discussed as part of Danish politics.

https://english.eu.dk/en/denmark_eu/danishoptouts

Re: The Isle of Man is not in the UK

#90
post #32

UK and tax havens have a long history. It is pretty sad and tells a lot about the quality of information in UK that most British people do not know about ATAD: Anti Tax Avoidance Directive, a EU attempt to crack down on tax havens, which will come in effect on 1st of Jan 2020. Thanks to Brexit, UK will secure its tax havens, to the benefit of very few and to the detriment of many... See https://www.taxjustice.net/201…

Are you sure it's not to the detriment of very few? How many UK citizens are able to take advantage of said tax havens?

Edit: I misunderstood

Post reply on HN