The new rate of tax for the wealthy in the United Kingdom is unlikely to make much difference to the Isle of Man, according to Phillip Dearden, the managing Director of accountancy firm PKF.

He believes the higher tax rate - of 50% for annual earnings over ?150,000 -  will have only a marginal effect for the Manx Treasury.

On Mandate today he said:

"Anything that increases the gap between tax rates in the Isle of Man and the UK increases the incentive for wealthy people to move here, but I can't see it having a dramatic effect.

"The big taxes, Capital Gains Tax and Inheritance Tax, are already nil here, so there is a big difference already. This will help a little bit.

Mr Dearden also said the Island is not immune to economic problems in the UK and to a large extent it relies on a healthy UK economy:

"Obviously, from the government's point of view, they are sharing in the VAT recovery across the whole of Great Britain, so if the UK GDP falls [and] VAT take falls [then] government revenue falls.

"So, Mr Bell shares in the UK's pain but also, for the Isle of Man as a whole, our economy does rely on the UK being very buoyant.

"A lot of what happens in the Isle of Man happens with 'spare money'.

"People are either buying investment products or routing transactions through the Isle of Man, and there is much more of that when the UK economy's doing well, so we really need it to recover quickly."