Treasury
7 FOI requests | Full disclosure rate: 1485.7%
The Freedom of Information requests to the Isle of Man Treasury reveal an authority that is highly transparent regarding aggregate financial data but increasingly protective of operational details and specific contractual arrangements. The most striking disclosures concern the 'Aircraft VAT Refund' scheme, where the Treasury confirmed over £300 million in refunds between 2016 and 2019 before the practice ceased entirely (Cases 679571, 1121225, 2695289). Similarly, the Treasury has been open about systemic administrative challenges, admitting to a backlog of over 7,000 unassessed tax returns due to staffing shortages (Case 1178052) and providing detailed breakdowns of high-profile expenditures like the Manx Care CEO office (Case 4159610). However, a pattern of obstruction emerges in requests concerning legal aid and investment specifics. The Treasury has moved from providing aggregated legal aid costs to refusing to confirm or deny specific payments (Case 3851581) and labeling persistent inquiries as 'vexatious' (Case 4004962). Furthermore, while the Treasury discloses high-level asset allocations, it consistently withholds detailed pension fund holdings and consultancy billable hours, citing commercial sensitivity and ongoing tender processes (Cases 823766, 2592433). This suggests a government that welcomes public scrutiny of its bottom line but resists deep dives into the mechanics of its decision-making and specific vendor relationships.
Key Cases
Case 679571 — Discloses a staggering £253 million in VAT refunds for 68 aircraft between 2016-2018, revealing the scale of a specific tax incentive scheme that has since vanished from the records.
Case 4159610 — Provides a full breakdown of the £27.8 million expenditure by the Manx Care CEO office, a significant disclosure regarding healthcare leadership costs that was previously opaque.
Case 1178052 — Explicitly links a backlog of 7,424 unassessed tax returns to staffing shortages, offering a rare internal admission of administrative failure affecting revenue collection.
Case 4004962 — Marks a shift in the Treasury's approach to transparency, where a request for legal aid data was classified as 'vexatious' due to the frequency of correspondence, effectively blocking further scrutiny on that topic.
Case 2249733 — Directly addresses corruption concerns by confirming that no Covid-19 Salary Support Scheme payments were made to businesses linked to former Chief Minister Howard Quayle, providing a clear 'all clear' on a high-profile allegation.
Related FOI Stories
Aircraft VAT Refund Scheme — #679571, #1121225, #1651945, #2695289
Legal Aid Expenditure and Administration — #356063, #356067, #356065, #2541489, #2594293
Pension Fund Investments and Ethics — #433135, #823766, #847165, #1037461, #1558209
Tax Arrears and Collection Efficiency — #654168, #684267, #688567, #1178052, #1193049
Strategic Consultancy and 'Our Big Picture' — #2592433, #2594494, #2306897
| Date | Title | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-07-23 | Residential qualification for income related benefits | Not required to fulfill request |
| The requester asked for data on how often the five-year residency requirement for Income Support was overridden in the past ten years, including decision levels and reasons. The Treasury refused the request, citing that the information is held in non-machine-readable paper files and compiling it would require substantial resources. | ||
| 2024-07-03 | Residential qualification ignored? | Not required to fulfill request |
| The requester asked for statistics on how often residency requirements were overridden for three specific benefits over the past three months, including decision levels and reasons. The Treasury refused the request, stating that compiling the information from non-machine-readable paper files would require substantial work not mandated by the Freedom of Information Act. | ||
| 2023-01-31 | Child Benefit Payments | Not required to fulfill request |
| 2018-04-27 | Expenditure on single use plastics within the department | Not required to fulfill request |
| A request for detailed expenditure figures on single-use plastics by the Isle of Man Treasury was refused because compiling the data would require substantial work not mandated by the Freedom of Information Act 2015. While specific total figures were not provided, the response noted that spending on enforcement-related plastic items is approximately £260 per annum and that the department does not purchase plastic straws, cutlery, or bin liners. | ||
| 2018-03-26 | income tax revenue | Not required to fulfill request |
| 2017-11-25 | Spending from Development Fund | Not required to fulfill request |
| A request was made to the Treasury for details on the first funding from the Development Fund, specifically the amount and recipient. The request was not fulfilled because the applicant failed to provide clarification regarding the source of the statement mentioned in the inquiry. | ||
| 2017-06-29 | Payments received by payment type across Govt | Not required to fulfill request |
| A request for summarized government payments by type and department was made to the Isle of Man Treasury. The authority refused to fulfill the request because the applicant failed to provide necessary clarifications regarding specific payment types and time periods within the statutory 28-day limit. | ||