A MANX advocate has pinpointed what he calls a "financial pitfall" for offshore tax residents who may be thinking about assisted suicide.

Paul Beckett, a senior practitioner at Old Court Chambers in Douglas, has said relocation to Switzerland for an assisted suicide could lead to an unforeseen tax bill.

Last year 694 people from the United Kingdom travelled to the Dignitas clinic in Zurich to end their lives.

The clinic helps those suffering from an illness "which will lead inevitably to death" or an "unendurable disease" end their life assisted by qualified doctors and nurses. 

However Paul, who is a practicing Catholic and is openly opposed to assisted suicide, says Manx residents need to be aware of the financial implications of making this choice.

He explained: "If you relocate from the UK to the Isle of Man to take up residence you are only eligible for taxation in your domicile of choice - the Isle of Man.

"However if you should then leave the Isle of Man for Switzerland with the sole intention of carrying out an assisted suicide then the Isle of Man - to which you are clearly not returning - is no longer your domicile of choice. 

"For Switzerland to become your new domicile of choice you would have to prove your intention to reside there permanently or indefinitely so this option is also ruled out.

"In this limbo your default domicile for taxation purposes becomes your domicile of origin - i.e. the UK.

"The impact on a lifetime's careful savings could be considerable not to mention the consequences for family left behind."

A spokesperson for HM Revenue and Customs appears to confirm Paul's interpretation stating: "If it could be shown that he [the hypothetical client] had abandoned his domicile of choice it may be that at his date of death either Switzerland could be his new domicile of choice or more likely his domicile of origin would be reinstated".

Paul said he hopes bringing the taxation issue to light may prove a "disincentive" for some or at the very least "food for thought".

Euthanasia is illegal in all countries of the United Kingdom under the 1961 Suicide Act.

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