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Semi-Offshore Isle of Man or Channel Islands Company for UK Citizens

4br

4br

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Jul 23, 2020
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#1
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I have a Dubai freezone company, which operates a website. I spend very little time in the UAE and none in the UK (where I am a citizen of). However, the cost of keeping the company is probably in excess of $10,000 per year. In 2026 I plan on retiring early, but keeping the company and getting a UAE golden visa via real estate. However, I'd like to move the company to somewhere that I am not losing $3K per year for a flexi desk I don't use, airline tickets and hotels for stays I don't really want to make, accounting, and so on. I'd like to keep the business/site as a hobby and a lot of the income will be used to pay employees to build it.

As a UK citizen I have the right to move to the Isle of Man and Channel Islands (I am also interested in moving to these places, but not necessarily). So I am interested to know:

What possible setups would there be for me to establish the company there - I would be happy to buy a property to act as the HQ, not sure about residency etc. I assume this can be done for a small annual renewal fee (as opposed to the $7K or so with DMCC) and an accountant. Is this something that could be done as a non-resident property owner there? Or would you need to be a resident?
 
#3
All the Islands, with the exception of Sark, tax income and dividends at 20%, plus social security contributions. In total a bit more than 30% what I have been told last Christmas.

Also, you can only freely settle on Isle of Man and Sark. Guernsey proper and Jersey have rules. You can do it though.

The are some flat rate taxes, but it is nothing like 40k GBP as in Gibraltar. I think roughly 5-fold.

Then, the companies there require local secretary etc. And you can only incorporate through a CSP. The majority of the CSP are catering the needs of trusts and want to do all the accounting, the rest does trading companies but only with substance as a service. Leaves about 5 CSP that do what you want. All charge 3000+ GBP per year. (If you are resident and do not need them address and secretary service, those 5 will incorporate for less than 1000 GBP and you won't need them in an annual base.)

Of the three, only Guernsey has no audit requirement based on turnover for normal setups.

My opinion? Unless you want to live in Sark, I probably would not consider moving there for tax reasons. Gibraltar may be the better choice for a company and living there as taxes are capped at 40k. The only downside of Gibraltar is the audit requirement for a turnover above 1.25M GBP.

It really depends on what climate you prefer, but Channel Islands are rarely on the tax evasion hot list. Once you retire and only have dividend income, there are plenty of places to live that do not tax such money. And you can put your company in any jurisdiction that has no corporate taxes, maybe even Guernsey in this case. Otherwise take Singapore if you need banking or BVI if not.
 
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#8
daniels27 said:
All the Islands, with the exception of Sark, tax income and dividends at 20%, plus social security contributions. In total a bit more than 30% what I have been told last Christmas.

Also, you can only freely settle on Isle of Man and Sark. Guernsey proper and Jersey have rules. You can do it though.

The are some flat rate taxes, but it is nothing like 40k GBP as in Gibraltar. I think roughly 5-fold.

Then, the companies there require local secretary etc. And you can only incorporate through a CSP. The majority of the CSP are catering the needs of trusts and want to do all the accounting, the rest does trading companies but only with substance as a service. Leaves about 5 CSP that do what you want. All charge 3000+ GBP per year. (If you are resident and do not need them address and secretary service, those 5 will incorporate for less than 1000 GBP and you won't need them in an annual base.)

Of the three, only Guernsey has no audit requirement based on turnover for normal setups.

My opinion? Unless you want to live in Sark, I probably would not consider moving there for tax reasons. Gibraltar may be the better choice for a company and living there as taxes are capped at 40k. The only downside of Gibraltar is the audit requirement for a turnover above 1.25M GBP.

It really depends on what climate you prefer, but Channel Islands are rarely on the tax evasion hot list. Once you retire and only have dividend income, there are plenty of places to live that do not tax such money. And you can put your company in any jurisdiction that has no corporate taxes, maybe even Guernsey in this case. Otherwise take Singapore if you need banking or BVI if not.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the break down.

I was mainly interested in somewhere with no corporate tax. Though I thought dividends were at 0%. I was aware that income is at 10%, but the threshold is £14,500, or $18,500. That doesn't matter to me, as I'd either be paying myself nothing or around that threshold. I'd be fine paying a little tax for roads and what not, but paying this would be completely optional. The IoM gov. site says:

There are no capital gains, inheritance tax or stamp duty, and personal income tax has a 10% standard rate and 20% higher rate.
Click to expand...

That's what I'm looking for. The insurance contributions are not great, but it's not too bad.

I didn't consider Gibraltar, so something to look into.

But IoM seems to have all of what I am looking for:

- 0% corporate income tax
- cheap incorporation (£100)
- no capital gains

My question would be - do I need to be a full resident to take advantage of this £100 incorporation fee. I'd imagine non-residents need to pay this CSP fee.
 
#9
4br said:
But IoM seems to have all of what I am looking for:

- 0% corporate income tax
- cheap incorporation (£100)
- no capital gains

My question would be - do I need to be a full resident to take advantage of this £100 incorporation fee. I'd imagine non-residents need to pay this CSP fee.
Click to expand...

The incorporation fee is the same for all companies, no matter if resident or not. Also, please note that incorporations under the 2006 Act can only be accepted from licensed Registered Agents via online services.

Please read the documents here
https://www.gov.im/categories/busin...anies-registry/practice-notes/2006-companies/https://www.gov.im/categories/business-and-industries/companies-registry/fees/#accordion
If you are not resident, the CSP will charge you substantially more than the normal £800 for residents. Expect £3000 per year minimum.

Just to reiterate, the IoM, Guernsey and Jersey companies all will cost you minimum £3000 per year if not resident. If resident, you will pay minimum 20% + social contributions on salary.

What is your comment about the low salary referring to? Are you thinking of only making less than £20,000 per year? I think there are many high tax countries which will give you substantial social welfare for such low income. This forum is not for welfare planning, but tax planning. If on the other side, your plan is to make a billion and then only pay yourself very little salary, you will end up paying 20% on your total profits. Isle of Man does have a tax on all dividends distributed as well as profits not distributed.

https://www.grantthornton.co.im/glo...of-man/52754-gt-tax-guide-leaflet_updates.pdfhttps://www.gov.im/categories/tax-v...nd-corporations/distributable-profits-charge/https://services.gov.im/treasury/incometax/services/help/individualreturns/iom/dividends2008.xml
Please read it. The summary:

Resident:
20% tax + social contributions

Non-Resident:
£3000 minimum per year

In any case, I would recommend Guernsey as they have no automatic audit requirement based on turnover.
 
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