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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 75,000.
Tynwald (Parliament), legislates on all domestic matters including taxation. Tynwald consists of two houses; the Legislative Council, which consists of eight Members, elected by the lower house, The House of Keys, and the Bishop and Attorney General, neither of whom has voting rights. The House of Keys 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 government of the Island, and 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 Triple “A” 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, based on English Common Law.
The Companies Act 2006.
An NMV can be incorporate, registered or continued under the Act as:
Submission of Memorandum and Articles of Association and advise of the situation of the Registered Office and Licensed Registered Agent.
NMV Companies are not permitted to:
An Isle of Man company has all the powers of a natural person.
English.
NMV Companies must maintain a registered office and agent in the Isle of Man.
Yes.
One to five days, subject to name approval.
Full information can be found at: http://www.gov.im/lib/docs/ded/companies/companiesreg/masternameguidanceaugust2005.pdf
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.
NMV Companies must utilise Limited. Corporation, Incorporated, Public Limited Company or their abbreviation. Foreign character names will be permitted subject to approval by the Registrar.
The name of an unlimited company may (but need not) end with the word “Unlimited” or the abbreviation “Unltd”.
The name of a protected cell company shall include one of the following phrases:
The company can voluntarily elect to file a copy of its register of members with the Registrar of Companies, if the company makes such an election the registers will be a matter of public record. Alternatively the identity of the beneficial owners of the Isle of Man Company may remain confidential if corporate shareholders are engaged to act as the shareholder on behalf of the ultimate beneficial owners. This confidentiality is maintained as long as the company and its ultimate beneficial owners are not involved in any criminal activity.
The Act provides that shares in a Company may (without limitation):
In additional, subject to any contrary provisions in a company’s memorandum or articles of association, a NMV is able to:
As with 1931 Act Companies, bearer shares are not permitted.
With effect from 6th April, 2006 Private Limited Companies normally pay income tax at 0% and there is no withholding tax on payments of dividends to shareholders.
Companies that are in the business of banking, insurance or are connected with the business of Isle of man property pay corporation tax at a rate of 10% and a withholding tax at the same rate is imposed if the dividend is paid to a non resident individual or corporate body.
NMV Companies pay an annual charge of £360.
NMV Companies may be registered for VAT purposes and the VAT prefix will be "GB" which is recognised in Europe.
Apart from a limited treaty with the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man is not party to any double tax treaties.
Whilst there is no requirement to file audited financial statements with the authorities, it is important to note that a company is required to keep reliable accounting records, which:
Accounting records must be kept at the office of the registered agent in the Isle of Man such as to disclose with reasonable accuracy the financial position of the business in question at intervals not exceeding 6 months. Failure to maintain accounts or make them available for inspection at a company's registered office 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 minimum number of directors is one, they may be of any nationality or residence. Bodies corporate may be eligible to act as a director if it, or another body corporation of which it is a subsidiary, is the holder of an appropriate licence issued by the Isle of Man Financial Supervision Commission under the Isle of Man Fiduciary Services Acts 2000 or permitted to act as a corporate director by regulations made pursuant to the Act.
Is not required.
The minimum number of shareholders is one.
Other business entities used for international tax planning include:
Further information on these alternative structures are available on request.
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