Chief Minister Allan Bell MHK has moved to refute comments made by Labour Party leader Ed Miliband concerning the Isle of Man over the weekend.
Mr Bell dismissed Mr Miliband’s remarks in the UK media about the Crown Dependencies as ‘ill informed’ and pointed to the substantial weight of evidence which demonstrates the Island’s proactive approach on tax regulation issues.
He said:
‘The Isle of Man has a long established protocol with the UK for tax information exchange. In addition we have a network of Tax Information Exchange Agreements, the agreed OECD standard measure, in place with our international partners. We also automatically exchange information with EU countries, making the Isle of Man one of the first non-EU countries to do this.’
The Isle of Man is on the OECD ‘White List’ of countries which have ‘substantially implemented the internationally agreed tax standard.’ Numerous international assessments have found the Isle of Man to be at the forefront of standards of best practice in tax regulation. In a recent report to the G20, the OECD concluded that the Isle of Man is one of only eight reviewed jurisdictions found to have all elements of effective information exchange in place. This places the Isle of Man alongside Australia, France, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan and Norway.
In its review of adherence to international standards, the Financial Stability Board placed the Isle of Man in the highest category of co-operative jurisdictions, concluding that the Island demonstrates sufficiently strong adherence to international standards.
The Chief Minister said:
‘I am disappointed that the Isle of Man’s work in leading the field in international tax standards and in contributing to their ongoing development has not been recognised by the Leader of the Opposition, as it has been by others. It is not for any politician to dictate who should be on an OECD black list. It is for the OECD to make this decision based on a ‘cool headed’ evaluation of the facts. The Isle of Man is supportive of the UK Government's crackdown on tax evasion and their approach to strengthening the UK’s anti-avoidance framework. We have a positive working relationship with our counterparts in the UK Government, which makes these comments all the more surprising.’
Mark Field MP for Cities of London and Westminster said:
‘Ed Miliband’s comments are behind the curve here and the evidence paints a very different picture. In July last year the Isle of Man moved to automatic exchange of information under the EU Savings Directive putting it at the forefront of best practice in transparency and regulation. International bodies such as the OECD have repeatedly recognised the Isle of Man’s record of compliance. It should also be noted that the Isle of Man takes a proactive approach to its international responsibilities and has a positive working relationship with the Government.’
