The Isle of Man has become part of an international network of more than 75 countries co-operating on tax matters.
 
The Island is the first British Crown Dependency to join the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters, a multilateral agreement providing for tax co-operation between its signatories.
 
The net effect of the move will be to bring the Isle of Man 38 new tax treaty partners, as it already has agreements in place with the other Convention countries.
 
The Island confirmed its commitment to joining the OECD/Council of Europe Convention, along with the other Crown Dependencies, ahead of the G8 Summit in June this year.
 
Tynwald approved enabling legislation in October, and the Isle of Man Government then formally asked the United Kingdom Government to extend the application of the Convention to the Island.
 
The Convention was extended to the Isle of Man at a ceremony held during the Sixth Meeting of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes in Jakarta yesterday (Thursday 21 November 2013).   It is expected to enter into force on 01 March 2014.
 
Extension of the Convention to the Isle of Man has been welcomed by Chief Minister Allan Bell MHK, who commented: ‘The Convention is an important multilateral global instrument, which adds significantly to the Isle of Man’s existing network of bilateral taxation agreements. Its extension is further evidence of the Isle of Man Government’s longstanding commitment to transparency and exchange of information for tax purposes’.