There will be good news in due course for the Isle of Man, from the direction of the EU Savings Tax Agreement.

Jersey has just announced what the Channel Islands press is terming a windfall of ?7.3 million, obtained under the rules of the agreement.

Under the directive, the home jurisdiction is entitled to keep 25% of the tax paid by European taxpayers, and banks and finance houses have collected a total ?29.2 million on behalf of EU residents with savings in Jersey.

A total of ?21.9 million has been sent to the tax authorities of the relevant countries and Jersey is keeping the rest.

The call from some quarters in Jersey is to regard this as a windfall and to tuck it away to offset the effects of the directive on the Island's income, suggested to be about ?100 million.

The Manx government is expected to get a similar amount to Jersey, some millions of pounds, but not for about six months.

In Jersey the proposed Goods and Sales Tax, set at 3%, is an attempt to make up the shortfall left by the expunging of the exempt companies.

(Picture: A view of Jersey from the blueislands.com website).