Isle of Man Interantional Trading Companies:

The Isle of Man has encouraged commercial activity and manufacturing, especially in high technology, taking advantage of its physical location alongside the UK and the EU.

The Government offers capital grants of 40% of the costs of new buildings or improvements in buildings and of new machinery and plant, including energy conservation work, and consultancy costs. There are operating grants of 40% of non-recurring first-year costs and of marketing expense for new ventures; and up to 50% of training costs.

There is a wide variety of offshore company formats to choose from to suit all purposes. For a company importing or trading in physical goods in the EU, an offshore company form can be combined with a base in the Ronaldsway Freeport to give a very effective result. The island's inclusion in the EU's VAT regime is also helpful in many trading situations.

Along with other offshore jurisdictions, the Isle of Man is a suitable place in which to base e-commerce services for retail or wholesale distribution of material or non-material goods. For a company with B2C or B2B trading operations in high-tax countries, large parts of its sales, marketing and procurement activities can be based in a low-tax area such as the Isle of Man.

Distribution of physical goods in high-tax areas can be outsourced or can be handled locally, while distribution of digital goods (eg software or music) can of course be undertaken locally. Corporate structures can be adjusted so that profits do not have to be remitted to the high-tax jurisdiction.

Version date: 07.05.06