Maybe Beaver Island could try this...

[Kevin Green]

Independent.ie

Aran Islands follow lead of Bahamas as tax haven
By Jason O'Brien
Monday July 07 2008

FOR the recent glut of lottery millionaires it is unlikely to be as attractive a proposition as, say, Monte Carlo.

But Udaras na Gaeltachta is pushing ahead with proposals to transform Ireland's wind- and rain-swept islands into tax havens for businesses and residents.

"We don't imagine it will result in any mass exodus from the mainland," Padraig O hAolain, Udaras chief executive said yesterday.

"The islands we are talking about here aren't the Bahamas or the Caymans, and we know that.

"But we do believe that there would be an attraction for businesses on the mainland to, perhaps, set up a subsidiary on the islands, and we think a residency of six months on the islands is not an unreasonable condition."

The plans, submitted to the Commission on Taxation three weeks ago, are aimed at injecting new economic life into the islands by offering major tax incentives, and are focused on smaller business owners.

The proposals would allow individual residents to earn up to â?¬100,000 before paying tax and would include a range businesses.

Mr O hAolain said that major incentives are needed to make the islands more attractive for islanders to live and work there.

"This is our latest effort to gain an advantage, and our most radical approach to date," he said of the proposed scheme.

Fewer than 3,000 people live on Ireland's offshore islands.

The islands initially tipped to be involved in the scheme include Tory Island and Aranmore Island off Donegal, Clare Island off Mayo and the Aran Islands off Galway.

Scrutiny

Udaras has proposed that the suggested tax-exempt threshold of â?¬100,000 for individuals would apply for a period of 10 years.

It is confident that the island's demographics -- with 50pc of residents over 50 years of age -- would mean that the proposals have a "relatively modest cost" to the Exchequer.

"If we're serious about sustaining island life into the future, a radical approach is required," Mr O hAolain said.

The EU had approved other tax incentive schemes recently, he added.

Udaras was "confident" the Government would take the proposals seriously, he said.

However, it is thought that the proposals would face very intense scrutiny if they come before the Revenue Commission.

- Jason O'Brien

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