Isle of Man resists growing pressure on tax havens Sun, 23 Nov...

Isle of Man resists growing pressure on tax havens
Sun, 23 Nov 2008 04:44 AM

The global banking crisis is shining a spotlight on this windswept island in the Irish Sea as world leaders including US president-elect Barack Obama threaten to crack down on tax havens.

Obama has singled out the world's 40-odd tax havens, from the Cayman Islands to Liechtenstein, as a "problem" he intends to tackle

In October, 17 countries from the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) led by France and Germany turned up the heat when they decided to draw up a new blacklist of centres that fail to cooperate on tax evasion and transparency.

The Isle of Man's authorities strongly reject the term 'tax haven' being applied to their island, arguing it is a derogatory description that fails to recognise the efforts they have made to comply with international standards
The director of tax policy for the Paris-based OECD, Jeffrey Owens, said in September that the Isle of Man "now has the largest network of agreements" of any offshore centre.

The accords, designed to pierce secrecy, mean that countries can ask the Isle of Man for information concerning a tax investigation.

The Tax Environment for e business in the Isle of Man: The Isle of Man operates its own tax system entirely separately from the United Kingdom

Isle of Man takes zero Corporate Tax Plunge. ... with no Isle of Man tax on the profits thereof or on distributions therefrom