REQUEST A CALLBACK
The Isle of Man, situated in the centre of the British Isles, is an internally self-governing dependent territory of the British Crown which is not and never has been part of the United Kingdom. It is however, part of the British Isles. Tynwald, the Island's 1,000 year old Parliament, makes its own laws and oversees all internal administration, fiscal and social policies. External issues, such as foreign representation and defence, are administered on the Island's behalf by the UK Government and the Island makes an annual payment for these services.
As a British Crown dependency, the ultimate responsibility for the Island's good government is vested in the Crown but by long standing convention, the UK Government does not legislate for the Island except with the specific consent of the Island's Government. More information can be found at www.gov.im.
The population of the Isle of Man is approximately 84,655.
Tynwald (Parliament) legislates on all domestic matters including taxation. Tynwald consists of two branches, known as the Upper and Lower. The Legislative Council, (Upper) consists of ten Members and is elected by the lower house, Members include the President of Tynwald, the Lord Bishop of Sodor and Man, HM Attorney General and HM Queen Elizabeth II. The House of Keys, (Lower) has twenty-four Members who are elected and serve a five-year term. HM Queen Elizabeth II holds the title Lord of Man, and is ultimately responsible for the governance of the Island. All legislation passed by Tynwald has to have Royal Assent before being enacted.
There are regular daily air and ferry services to the UK and Ireland.
The economy is in its 26th year of growth the key sectors being financial services and professional services, Banking generates around one quarter of the Island's gross domestic product.
In the last few years new economic activities have been developed, such as aircraft registration and most significantly, e-gaming and other areas of e-commerce due to an infrastructure of world-class telecommunications and services which cater for the full range of modern corporate voice and data communication requirements.
The Isle of Man has been awarded "AA+" Ratings from Standard and Poor and Moody's.
The official and spoken language is English.
The Manx Pound, which is on par with the UK Pound and freely exchangeable
None.
Common Law
The Foundations Act 2010
The Foundation may be used for charitable or non charitable purposes or simply to benefit a person or class of persons.
The Foundation is established upon the successful application of the "foundation instrument" to the Foundations Registrar. The instrument is submitted by the Registered Agent and contains details:
This is a public document.
Similar to a company the Foundation must include its name, business address and registration number in all written communications, including electronic mail, stationery etc.
A Foundation must have Rules which include:
The rules may provide for or restrict amendments to the foundation instrument or the foundation rules. The Foundation Rules may be in any language but must have an English translation.
This is not a public document.
A Foundation can run in perpetuity unlike a trust which has a limited life span.
Assets are added to the Foundation by dedication and are not initially required. Assets may be dedicated after the foundation's establishment in which case the details of the dedication must be specified in the foundation rules.
Foundations are not permitted to:
An Isle of Man Foundation has all the powers of a separate legal entity including the ability to manage and own assets in its own name and arrange for its own funding.
The Foundation instrument, which is a public record, must be written in English. There is no requirement for the Foundation rules to be written in English, an English translation should be available.
The Foundation must maintain a registered agent who must be a license holder in the Isle of Man under the Financial Services Act 2008.
Three to five days.
The name of the Foundation must end with the word "Foundation".
Names can be expressed in any language using the Latin alphabet, if the Registrar of Companies is in receipt of an English translation and the name is not considered undesirable.
The following names or their derivatives require consent or a licence: bank, building society, savings, loans, insurance, assurance, reinsurance, co-operative, council, Chamber of Commerce, trust, municipal and finance or their foreign-language equivalents.
A Foundation is similar to a company in that it carries limited liability.
The rules applying to Limited Companies will also apply to Foundations. Foundation will incur no tax on profits other than those connected with the business of Isle of Man property which will pay corporate tax at a rate of 10%. A withholding tax at the same rate is imposed if the dividend is paid to a non resident individual or corporate body.
The Foundation may only engage in commercial trading if it is attainable of its objects. Isle of Man foundations may be registered for VAT purposes and the VAT prefix will be "GB", which is recognised in Europe.
Whilst there is no requirement to file audited financial statements with the authorities, it is important to note that a Foundation is required to keep financial records, which reflect the financial position of the Foundation.
If accounting records are kept at a place outside the Isle of Man they must be sent to the Foundation's registered office in the Isle of Man at not less than 6 month intervals.
Failure to maintain accounts or make them available for inspection at a company's registered agent is an offence punishable by imprisonment or a fine.
The Assessor of Income Tax reserves the right to call in the financial records for inspection.
The person transferring the property to the Foundation is known as the "Founder" similar to a Settlor in a trust. The name of the Founder will not be on public record.
An enforcer is optional unlike other jurisdictions and may be an individual or body corporate. The enforcer can be the Founder.
Council Members are appointed similar to a Trustee of a trust. Council members are bound to act within the scope of the foundation rules and have exposure unlimited liability if they engage in misconduct.
The beneficiaries of the Foundation are entitled to Foundation information but not necessarily a right to any income.
Other business entities used for international tax planning include:
Further information on these alternative structures is available on request.
Isle of Man Foundation Fact Sheet (PDF) Isle of Man Foundation Questionnaire (PDF) Isle of Man Foundation Order Form (PDF)
A bespoke 'offshore' solution can be complex and requires careful planning and execution. We therefore encourage our clients to contact the consultants below directly, without obligation. Should you prefer, click on the button below and request that a consultant from the Isle of Man office calls you back.
Alternatively, right click to download the order forms and complete and submit by email or fax to any of the office consultants listed below:
Isle of Man Foundation Order Form