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The Isle of Man

Isle of Man

The Island

The Isle of Man is in the middle of the Irish Sea, between England and Ireland.

With a population of approximately 85,000, the Island is 32.5 miles long and 13.5 miles wide, occupying 221 square miles. The highest peak in its central range of hills is the 2036ft Snaefell.

The Island’s capital and main seaport is Douglas.

The Gulf Stream gives the Island a temperate climate with rare extremes of either heat or cold.

Regular, year-round direct air services between the Island and various UK and Irish destinations complement daily “roll on, roll off” ferry services throughout the year between the Island’s capital Douglas, Ireland and the U.K, with regular liner and bulk tramp shipping services from Ramsey.

Law

The Isle of Man has its own legal system and jurisprudence with all the main features of a national government, influenced by its neighbour, the United Kingdom.

Government

The Isle of Man is not part of the UK or the European Community, but is an internally self-governing dependency  of the British Crown and its people are British citizens.  The King, who is ‘Lord of Mann’ is the Manx Head of State and is represented on the Island by the Lieutenant Governor. 

The Island hosts a broad spectrum of financial and investment services, including commodity brokers, insurance brokers, stockbrokers, investment managers, collective investment schemes, insurance management, captive insurance companies and company and trust administration.

Business, Industries, EU exit

Visit the Isle of Man government website at https://www.gov.im for the most up todate information on living and working in the Isle of Man including aspects affecting local and multi-national businesses post-Brexit.

Economy

The currency of the Island is the Manx pound, which is equivalent in value to its United Kingdom counterpart. The Island’s Government issues its own notes and coins which are circulated alongside UK currency bearing the same names and denominations as those issued by the UK Government.

As a result of the Island’s specialisation in international financial services most international banks, including all the leading UK clearing banks, are represented on the Island.

The economy of the Island was traditionally based on agriculture and fisheries, a large number of relatively small farms supporting a majority of the population, many of whom supplemented their livelihoods by fishing.

However, during the past three decades, the Manx economy has fundamentally changed as traditional industries of agriculture, fisheries and tourism have been overtaken by manufacturing and financial services.

Taxation

The Island’s policy is to keep taxation low by providing an attractive tax structure for companies. There is no inheritance tax, estate duty, wealth tax, capital gains tax or capital transfer tax nor is there surtax, higher rate tax or investment income surcharge.