Isle of Man Accountancy

Isle of Man entities must prepare accounts and these may need to be audited if they are above the current audit threshold. It should be noted that Isle of Man companies pay 0% tax so the requirement to prepare and file accounts is mainly for statistical purposes. Isle of Man accounts may be required  regardless of turnover if the company is regulated. Where Isle of Man accounts do not need to be audited they can be prepared by anyone and signed off by the directors. In such cases it is often cheaper to outsource this function to a cheaper country such as Malta. Isle of Man accountancy services are not generally expensive (compared with say Luxembourg) but cheaper alternatives do exist. Where there is an audit requirement it is generally better to have the accounts prepared locally since to do otherwise would, in most cases, just lead to duplication of work. An argument against outsourcing of accounts may be that if the company has local directors they may insist on providing this service themselves or appointing a local accountant. As mentioned in our main article Isle of Man service providers generally insist on providing management services. Another service frequently provided in the Isle of Man is VAT registration. VAT registration in the Isle of Man provides a UK VAT number but the timescale is much less (weeks instead of months). Finally, Isle of Man payroll can be provided by local accountants. For more information on Isle of Man companies please see our main page on Isle of Man private companies.