Moving tax residence to the Isle of Man to shelter a UK capital gain works better if the gain is at least £5 million and if an individual’s ongoing income is over £570,000 per annum, according to John Nugent, tax director at accountants PKF on the IoM. Talking to a group of journalists Mr Nugent said that recent softening of the rules surrounding capital gains tax in the UK had raised the bar over which it made sense for an individual to change domicile to the IoM. “Smaller deals at the £500,000 to £1 million level don’t make sense anymore,” he said. “But at the higher level, the absence of capital gains tax and inheritance tax on the Isle of Man and its income tax cap of £100,000 per annum, it makes perfect sense.” And neither the recent Gaines-Cooper case, nor the so-called offshore tax amnesty have had any negative affects on the island’s wealth management industry, according to Mr Nugent. “The Gaines-Cooper challenge to the Revenue was based on the Revenue’s own published guidance. We always advise clients on the basis of case law as guidance can easily be overturned by the courts,” he said. The case revolved around whether days travelling to and from the UK count towards the 90 days allowed to an individual who has non-resident status for tax purposes. “The Isle of Man is so close to the UK that this is hardly relevant to people who chose to take up tax residency here,” he said. The UK’s new offshore tax disclosure regime too will have a beneficial effect on the island’s financial services industry, said Mr Nugent. “Any money that’s hidden here illegally, and to evade paying UK taxes is firstly a very small percentage of the whole, and secondly this is business that we don’t want here, so the UK government is doing us a great favour.” With more top-end wealth has come a building boom on the IoM. “Traditionally there have not been too many really expensive homes on the Isle of Man. With the current influx of the ultra wealthy, new houses are being built at the top of the spectrum. This is a trend that is set to continue,” Allan Bell, Minister for the Treasury told WealthBriefing.