" Darling's Isle Of Man Must Be On Some Other Planet "

[%age]

I keep seeing this letter which was published in the Financial Times.

 

Are we not a Tax Haven sitting in the middle of the Irish Sea?

 

I think we fucken well are you know.

 

Oh, and if the UK Government and UK Investors knew how our Government mis-managed many, many, £millions with the New Hospital, IRIS Scheme, and the various MEA Projects, just for examples, perhaps "A Long Hard Look" is what someone should be doing to this Island. To say nothing of quite a few other matters that might shock western democratic societies.

 

For a population of 80,000 and all those Civil Servants and Public Employees on £1000+ week, many on a pension of that much. Where did that money derive from?

 

One thing is for sure, they didn't earn it themselves. Not by definition of earn, they didn't.

[Twitch]

I keep seeing this letter which was published in the Financial Times.

 

Are we not a Tax Haven sitting in the middle of the Irish Sea?

 

I think we fucken well are you know.

 

Oh, and if the UK Government and UK Investors knew how our Government mis-managed many, many, £millions with the New Hospital, IRIS Scheme, and the various MEA Projects, just for examples, perhaps "A Long Hard Look" is what someone should be doing to this Island. To say nothing of quite a few other matters that might shock western democratic societies.

 

For a population of 80,000 and all those Civil Servants and Public Employees on £1000+ week, many on a pension of that much. Where did that money derive from?

 

One thing is for sure, they didn't earn it themselves. Not by definition of earn, they didn't.

 

Come on, tell us then.

[Cronky]

To say nothing of quite a few other matters that might shock western democratic societies.

 

Please do tell us more about this.

[jimbms]

For a population of 80,000 and all those Civil Servants and Public Employees on £1000+ week, many on a pension of that much. Where did that money derive from?

Ok where do I sign up to be a street cleaner, at £1000 a week there should be queues half way down the prom for each job.

(edited to add: I not that in the profile of %age they have made sure there are no clues to gender, locaction, age or when last on forum. Isn't it strange that all the gobby ones who try to stir things up with insulting comments don't have the guts to give even basic details.)

[Gladys]

I thought it was a good letter. Pity a politico couldn't be taking up this challenge, vociferously and at the right level in the UK.

[%age]

For a population of 80,000 and all those Civil Servants and Public Employees on £1000+ week, many on a pension of that much. Where did that money derive from?

Ok where do I sign up to be a street cleaner, at £1000 a week there should be queues half way down the prom for each job.

(edited to add: I not that in the profile of %age they have made sure there are no clues to gender, locaction, age or when last on forum. Isn't it strange that all the gobby ones who try to stir things up with insulting comments don't have the guts to give even basic details.)

 

Guts to give even basic details, yeah, champ*. I'll give any details you desire. PM me and we'll have a real chat. Anytime.

 

Back to the text. Could be better worded by me I suppose. For a population of 80,000 there are so many (an inordinate number of as opposed to, obviously, all) Civil Servants/ public employees who take over a £1000 a week from our economy. Including many now 'pensioned off'. £1000 was used as a nice simple figure. But I'm sure you get the point. Street cleaners etc. do contribute to our society and economy but there is a huge raft of highly paid and pensioned Civil Servants and Public employees who simply, in the main, do not.

 

Their take home money hasn't been earned by a corresponding return into our economy - how possibly can it?

 

The Isle of Man has been awash with money from its special tax saving incentives for a long time. I would suggest so much that the Government simply don't know how to spend ('get rid') of it quick enough? Clearly the case when the Government can dispose of so many £100,000,000s on its various projects over the past decade or so, without it seems, so much as batting an eye-lid. [enter list of projects here]

 

Maybe now that the simple and obvious laws of economics (non fairyland) may have to kick in, the Island will have to earn its place in the world. And it looks like skimming off the tax revenue from other countries we share the world with ain't gonna be on the agenda for too much longer.

 

________________________________________________

 

To say nothing of quite a few other matters that might shock western democratic societies.

 

Please do tell us more about this.

Come on, tell us then.

 

I have every intention of doing so.

___________________________________________________

 

Gladys, it was a lovely, and very well written letter.

 

But are we a Tax Haven? As I said before, I think we fucken well are you know.

 

I say again, a rose is a rose by any other name. And so is a steaming turd.

 

 

 

 

*champ

I'm not one for retorts or entering into forum spats but I saw this one once on the forums and just thought I would use it sometime. Its not really me I know, but I'll give it a try anyway.

 

**the word champ was used in this context long before 'Champ' the doggie was in the news

 

(edit: typos)

[Gladys]

It depends on what the definition of 'tax haven' is. If it is any kind of low tax area, then I suppose that is what we are. But, in the past, it used to refer to the tax treatment of individual residents, e.g. Monaco which has a favourable individual tax regime. But is that really the case for the IOM and is it any worse than the hitherto favourable treatment by the UK of non-doms?

 

It is an emotive term without a strict definition and seems to carry with it dubious associations. As such it is not a helpful term to use and certainly one which we shouldn't be using to describe ourselves.

 

For the record, providing we can hold our head up in terms of regulation and transparency, as we are told by the big boys like OECD that we do, then I see no shame in that being our niche.

[The Old Git]

Street cleaners etc. do contribute to our society and economy butthere is a huge raft of highly paid and pensioned Civil Servants and Public employees who simply, in the main, do not

 

Their take home money hasn't been earned by a corresponding return into our economy - how possibly can it?

 

I'd love to know how you judge who has and who hasn't earned their wage.

 

How does a street sweeper help the economy any more than a nurse or surgeon, a policeman or fireman, a tax office worker or job centre worker?

[%age]

Anecdotal but true, and to illustrate I use one example, but I know others. I'm sure many of us do of course.

 

A person was going to be hit by a huge Tax bill in UK. Huge. Fighting, kicking, screaming they didn't want to pay it.

 

A long weekend on the Isle of Man sorted that little one out, thank you.

 

Isle of Man............. £650,000 (a large figure, whatever it was)

United Kingdom....... nil

 

 

 

The Isle of Man is, is, is a tax haven.

 

 

For the purposes of balance, it also has lovely friendly people and sandy beaches. And a famous motorbike race.

[Twitch]

So are you agreeing that having a low tax structure is good or bad?

 

I don't agree that it's a tax haven by the way. Only my opinion of course.

[%age]

Street cleaners etc. do contribute to our society and economy but there is a huge raft of highly paid and pensioned Civil Servants and Public employees who simply, in the main, do not

 

Their take home money hasn't been earned by a corresponding return into our economy - how possibly can it?

 

I'd love to know how you judge who has and who hasn't earned their wage.

 

How does a street sweeper help the economy any more than a nurse or surgeon, a policeman or fireman, a tax office worker or job centre worker?

 

Well, this all gets off topic doesn't it. But here we go.

 

There is a population of 80,000 and there is an economy, a local Isle of Man economy. Actually quite a nice size which we can sort of relate to. Say a town such as Stevenage, Redditch or East Kilbride.

There is a world economy.

It is a complex competing world and as we know often very unfair, but there you have it.

Each society has various needs and it pays people for those needs. Out of its very own economy.

 

Back to IoM:

Like many others, a free society of individuals of varying degrees of ability, desires, needs and greeds.

More-or-less, we all take and we all contribute. Cosy.

Economic factors such as those simple ones of supply and demand generally prevail. Market forces.

Etc.

 

 

Where, where, where, in fucken fairyland do we get that money to chuck at so many £1000 a week publicly funded people. A handful might just be reasonable, but on the Isle of Man we are talking about a huge amount.

 

The income of our highly paid Civil Servants is just one indication of the huge amount of wealth the Isle of Man Government has at its disposal.

 

What about a hospital that should have cost £40,000,000 ending up costing 2? 3? times that amount. MEA blah, blah, blah ad infinutum

 

 

 

Shoot the messenger if you wish but it is YOUR money.

 

 

er, hold on, no it isn't your money is it, it's the UK's money . . . . . .

 

 

edit:typo

[Albert Tatlock]

IOM mentioned as being on the local section of the politics show - on BBC1 now (started 12pm)

[%age]

We can quote international standards all we like but people who have clients who have lost big amounts in KSFIOM, or who have business contacts who have, or who have read the press reports, are now treating us as some form of international joke. Its the place where you invest if you don't want your money back and nobody is going to suggest a client invests into the IOM when those who already have might have to wait years to get a small proportion of what they have lost back.

 

There is plenty in the News these days. Example 1 is probably more to do with Iceland, but the association is clear.

 

Times Online example 1 is interesting as it appears to be scribed by a forum member although he had less hair when I last saw him.

 

Times Online example 2 is interesting as it suggests that those who were cornered into removing their pile from the Isle, during a recent Inland Revenue crackdown could have inadvertently ended up saving their wedge from the Icelandic thingummy.

 

It is a peculiar irony. A year ago, the Revenue began a crackdown on offshore savings. Banks operating out of the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man had to hand over details of British customers, and depositors who confessed were rewarded with an amnesty. Thousands did and many must have given up on offshore savings. Inadvertently, the taxman's crackdown must have saved some depositors from the collapse of the offshore subsidaries of Icelandic banks.

[bluemonday]

IOM mentioned as being on the local section of the politics show - on BBC1 now (started 12pm)

Q. Whats plan B?

A. Waffle waffle waffle, borrow.

How inept.

He really is out of his depth.

 

As for IOM, a shame the interviewer didn't ask him what he meant as opposed to leaving it down to the local section.

Nothing new.

[Albert Tatlock]

I spent last week in the UK trying to drum up business and many potential business introducers don't want to touch the Island with a bargepole. We can quote international standards all we like but people who have clients who have lost big amounts in KSFIOM, or who have business contacts who have, or who have read the press reports, are now treating us as some form of international joke. Its the place where you invest if you don't want your money back and nobody is going to suggest a client invests into the IOM when those who already have might have to wait years to get a small proportion of what they have lost back.

 

Its a simple commercial fact: if you know a compensation scheme is deficient, you don't keep piling clients money in otherwise they'll sue you if they get into similar trouble because you should have known.

 

I'm afraid we're headed back to the late 80s here, and getting there very rapidly and whether the IMF, the OECD or the USA think we meet international standards is totally irrelevant. People don't want to do business with us and that fact is going to translate into jobs and the real economy in the next 6 months.

This is the comment MHKs should be taking notice of. Rome is clearly aflame.