IoM tax amnesty drawing to a close

The Isle of Man’s treasury department has warned taxpayers that its tax amnesty is drawing to a close.

The registration deadline is scheduled for 30 September, three months after the initiative was launched to allow persons who have failed fully to reveal their income, or to register for income tax purposes, to come forward and bring their tax affairs up to date without suffering penalties.

The tax disclosure scheme is open to any individual, company, employer, contractor, trustee or other entity who is resident in the Isle of Man (IoM) for income tax purposes or who is, or should be, paying non-resident tax.

It is part of the Manx government’s attempts to distance the crown dependency from a longstanding reputation as a tax haven – a process that last year led Stephen Timms MP, then the financial secretary to Treasury minister, to praise the island’s administration for its ‘firm commitment to enhanced transparency’.

The IoM – which recently signed the 19th of its tax agreements to meet the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's international standard on tax co-operation – will next year abolish its withholding tax option currently available by virtue of the transitional arrangements under the EU savings directive framework.

A commitment from 1 July 2011 to an automatic exchange of information was endorsed earlier this summer by Tynwald, the Manx parliament.

Issue: 4273 / Categories: News , EUSDF , Isle of Man , OECD , Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development , Stephen Timms , tax haven , Tynwald , Admin