The island currently has a withholding tax option for EU citizens who have offshore bank accounts held there. It negotiated the option – though offshore account holders can also choose full disclosure to their domestic tax authority – when the EUSD came into force in 2005.
Isle of Man Treasury Minister Allan Bell – who now holds the Economic Development portfolio – announced the proposed move last year during an OECD conference in Paris.
It meant the Isle of Man would move to full, compulsory information exchange a year earlier than had initially been agreed with the EU. From 2011, any EU citizen opening an account in the Isle of Man will automatically have their account details and information sent to their home tax authority.
Treasury Minister Anne Craine said of the legislative development: “The Isle of Man is a small but significant centre in the global financial services market, and this move signals clearly to our partners in the European Union our commitment to work closely with them by maintaining an excellent regulatory and internationally co-operative business environment.”
