The Isle of Man Assessor of Income Tax, Malcolm Couch, provided an update on zero-ten taxation at a breakfast seminar hosted by Lloyds TSB on Wednesday morning. The event, held at the Claremont Hotel, was very well attended by representatives of local businesses. The function room was filled almost to capacity for the seminar, which mirrored a similar event run by Lloyds TSB close to a year ago, when Mr Couch had outlined some of the concerns raised by the EU Code Group about zero-ten and the ‘attribution regime for individuals’ (ARI). With the ARI now in the process of being scrapped, Mr Couch sought to summarise the events of the last year and reassure the audience of the Government’s continued commitment to balancing the Island’s international reputation with a competitive tax structure. The seminar outlined the challenges to the tax system raised by pressure from both the European Union’s Council of Economics and Finance Ministers (ECOFIN) and the working group responsible for the Code of Conduct for Business Taxation. Mr Couch emphasised that both ECOFIN and the Code Group had stated in 2003 that zero-ten taxation systems were ‘not harmful in themselves’ and that it was the relationship between the ARI and zero-ten that was under question. This explained the reasoning behind removing ARI altogether and, Mr Couch suggested, meant that the 2003 precedent, which cannot be ignored, would make further criticism of the Manx system difficult to sustain. As a consequence, no changes to zero-ten were anticipated. It was a strongly reassuring message. Mr Couch continued by saying, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, “We should probably feel immensely proud… In essence, this tiny little mouse has gone out and confronted one of Hannibal’s armoured war elephants”. With regard to the longer-term future Mr Couch was positive, stating that “The pressure from the EU is not likely to go away… so we are going to constantly think whether there is more the Isle of Man can do on transparency, and more that we can do on cooperation with other countries, to stabilise our position as a high probity, well regarded finance centre”. He also highlighted statements from groups such as the OECD that placed low or no corporate income tax “within the economic mainstream”, suggesting that the Isle of Man is not alone in the form or intent of its tax system. Mr Couch was introduced by Trevor Kirk, Senior Manager, Corporate Banking at Lloyds TSB. Trevor commented on the seminar: “It’s great to be able to provide this opportunity for people to listen to Malcolm again, talking about the events of the last year and his view of the prospects for the future. It is essential for the Island’s prosperity to have a competitive and yet cooperative jurisdiction, and business taxation is currently at the heart of both issues.” Trevor continued: “We are extremely fortunate to have someone so able and so eloquent as Malcolm in this vital role, and everyone on the Lloyds team would like to thank him for agreeing to provide this update.” -ENDS-