Isle of Man - great place to live?

[DarthTom]

I head of this 'dirty British secret' on the Stewart show last night. I had never heard of the Isle of Man.

Interesting country with some very interesting un-European way of doing things.

Zero capital gains taxes, zero corporate taxes and apparently it's the 4th or 5th most likely country to return to the moon.

When can I move to this British/un-British paradise?

The Isle of Man is a low-tax economy with no capital gains tax, wealth tax, stamp duty, or inheritance tax[47] and a top rate of income tax of 20%. A tax cap is in force; the maximum amount of tax payable by an individual is £115,000 or £230,000 for couples if they choose to have their incomes jointly assessed. The £115,000 tax cap equates to an assessable income of £589,550. Personal income is assessed and taxed on a total worldwide income basis rather than a remittance basis. This means that all income earned throughout the world is assessable for Manx tax rather than only income earned in or brought into the Island.
The rate of corporation tax is 0% for almost all types of income, the only exceptions are that the profits of banks are taxed at 10%, as is rental (or other) income from land and buildings situated on Mann.[48][49]
Offshore banking, manufacturing, and tourism form key sectors of the economy. Agriculture and fishing, once the mainstays of the economy, now make declining contributions to the Island's Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Of specific interest to TrekBBS posters:

Space Commerce

The Isle of Man has become an enclave for emerging space travel companies, employing fifteen people. A number of the competitors in the Google Lunar X Prize, a $30 million competition for the first privately funded team to send a robot to the moon, are based on the island. The team summit for the X Prize was held on the Isle in October 2010. In 2010, the Isle was named the fifth most likely nation to reach the moon next. [53]

 

[Kemaiku]

 

[DarthTom]

 

[Roger Wilco]

Sounds like a nice enough place, but beware of its obnoxious indigenous people.

 

[Holdfast]

I head of this 'dirty British secret' on the Stewart show last night. I had never heard of the Isle of Man.

Dude, if you want a British tax haven, the Cayman Islands have much better weather. But if you're worried about the hurricane risk there, try Jersey or Guernsey. Not quite as favourable, income tax-wise, but still pretty good and the better weather is worth the slightly greater expense. However, the Isle of Man does have a cool flag. And lots of bikes.

The problem with these places is the change of lifestyle they entail. Small islands operate differently to mainland cities, and you have to be ready for that. I actually looked into Jersey some years ago, as a job opportunity arose. I didn't go for it in the end because I just didn't want to live there at the time. Still, it's good to know these kinds of place exist. If you're not British, it can be quite hard to move there (you generally need to demonstrate a high net worth). If you're British, it's considerably easier. Though it still helps to be an HNWI (and not at the lower end of that bracket, either).

 

[Starkers]

Jersey's a very nice place. The Isle of Man can be a bugger to get to considering it's so close to mainland Britain!

 

[Pingfah]

It's really not much of a secret.

 

[Admiral Shran]

Sounds like paradise.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

It sounds like a trailer park.

 

[Darth Duck]

I head of this 'dirty British secret' on the Stewart show last night. I had never heard of the Isle of Man.

Really? Never spent hours pouring over maps as a child I take it?

When can I move to this British/un-British paradise?

Soon, I hope, since America seems to be causing you distress.

 

[TheGodBen]

Horrible place. I've never been there (although I have seen it from a plane a few times) but in Medieval Total War 2 it was a right bugger to invade as the Norwegians had two complete armies stationed there. I eventually won, but it slowed my invasion of Scotland.

 

[Kemaiku]

I've been there twice, its a mindnumbingly small and boring little place with fuck all to entertain anyone from the outside world for more than a few days.

 

[Roger Wilco]

Except deadly motorcycle races apparently. (which is probably proof the natives are bored out of their minds)

 

[Kemaiku]

Well to be fair even with their much greater mortality rate, the vast majority of the deaths are spectators and even then only every few years.

 

[Eyes]

Horrible place. I've never been there (although I have seen it from a plane a few times) but in Medieval Total War 2 it was a right bugger to invade as the Norwegians had two complete armies stationed there. I eventually won, but it slowed my invasion of Scotland.

I ignore that sort of thing. If they want to spend the upkeep on two (or more) huge armies on a useless island to sit on the beaches, they are completely welcome to it. Until you own everything else of course.

The island itself could not excite me less. There are dozens of islands like it around the UK, only this one is more notable.
Island culture is not my sort of thing, and this one just seems worse with its position in the dreary middle of the Irish Sea.

 

[FlyingLemons]

There's also the Jersey Islands as well.

 

[Mr Silver]

I wouldn't recommend anywhere in the United Kingdom to anyone. At the moment we live in a country where the government is making massive budget cuts, inflation is an issue and where unruly people are able to organise riots in multiple cities that not even the police have been able to get under control this far.

Its a nice country, filled with a rich cultural history and once known for our great tolerance. But the way society and the economy is at the moment, it doesn't matter.

 

[Count Zero]

For some reason I highly doubt anyone would riot on any of those islands.

 

[TheGodBen]

I ignore that sort of thing. If they want to spend the upkeep on two (or more) huge armies on a useless island to sit on the beaches, they are completely welcome to it. Until you own everything else of course.

But I had to question why they were there. Were they going to use the Isle of Man to invade Ireland while my armies were away in Scotland? I wasn't going to leave myself open to that sort of threat.

Strong bastards, those Norwegians. I had a horrible time removing them from northern Scotland too.

I wouldn't recommend anywhere in the United Kingdom to anyone.

The Isle of Man isn't actually in the UK. Nor is it in the EU, bizarrely enough.

 

[ITL]

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UX8Dg4nW7lU[/yt]

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sK0lUPsZvXA[/yt]