Treasury
26 FOI requests | Full disclosure rate: 400.0%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-01-06 | Immigration, Illegal entry by sea and air and removals | Some information sent but not all held |
| A request for monthly data on illegal immigration entries to the Isle of Man from January 2025 was partially fulfilled, with the Treasury disclosing the total number of individuals and their nationalities while withholding specific port, mode of arrival, and cost data due to lack of records or personal information exemptions. | ||
| 2025-08-04 | Benefit Fraud & Error 2014-15 to 2024-25 | Some information sent but not all held |
| The request sought updated benefit fraud and error statistics for 2014-25 and data on written-off overpayments, but the Treasury could not provide written-off figures for 2014-16 due to missing records. | ||
| 2025-01-09 | State Pension | Some information sent but not all held |
| The request sought data on Isle of Man state pension recipients and their overlap with UK pensions, including potential cost savings from removing dual payments. The Treasury disclosed that it holds no data on UK pension entitlements for those reaching pension age after April 2016 due to independent operations, though it confirmed records exist for 'split liability' pensions under the 1977 agreement for earlier cohorts. | ||
| 2024-12-09 | Ramsey's working harbour | Some information sent but not all held |
| The Treasury partially fulfilled a request regarding Ramsey harbour rates by disclosing documents with redacted personal data, but refused requests for harbour operations, bin usage, and government discussions as the information is not held by them. | ||
| 2024-06-03 | legal aid handbook | Some information sent but not all held |
| The requester asked for versions 1-6 of the Civil Legal Aid Handbook, draft versions, and working papers regarding amendments, but the Treasury only released the October 2015 2nd Edition, stating not all information was held. | ||
| 2024-03-12 | IOM Schools - Rates Payable | Some information sent but not all held |
| 2023-09-21 | Child benefit thresholds | Some information sent but not all held |
| 2023-06-29 | Rates rebates/discounts | Some information sent but not all held |
| 2023-06-06 | Info request | Some information sent but not all held |
| 2023-03-02 | Revenue Budget - Financial Plans (2) | Some information sent but not all held |
| 2023-01-24 | legal aid meta data | Some information sent but not all held |
| 2023-01-18 | Defence Costs | Some information sent but not all held |
| 2023-01-17 | legal aid annual joint consultative committee meetings | Some information sent but not all held |
| 2022-09-01 | Collection of harbour dues | Some information sent but not all held |
| 2020-09-08 | Charitable Donations | Some information sent but not all held |
| The request sought annual totals for charitable donations and the number of individuals making them under Deed of Covenant for the last five years. The Treasury provided historical data for 2014/15 to 2018/19 but refused the 2019/20 figures as the tax assessment was still ongoing. | ||
| 2019-09-16 | Charitable Giving | Some information sent but not all held |
| The request sought data on charitable tax offsets for the 2017/18 fiscal year, specifically distinguishing between Isle of Man registered charities and others. The Treasury disclosed total figures for charitable giving and deeds of covenant but refused the second part of the request as the data distinguishing charity locations is not held. | ||
| 2019-08-07 | Recent increase in registry fees on property transactions | Some information sent but not all held |
| A request for Treasury papers regarding recent increases in Isle of Man land registry fees was partially fulfilled, disclosing a confidential proposal to restructure fees to support first-time buyers while maintaining revenue neutrality. | ||
| 2018-10-16 | Information relating to payments of EPA in relation to childcare | Some information sent but not all held |
| The request sought total EPA payments for nursery care, fraud statistics, and validation steps for the 2017-18 financial year. The Treasury refused to provide total payment figures due to the substantial compilation required but confirmed no fraudulent claims were identified and detailed the signature-based validation process. | ||
| 2018-06-06 | Responsible Financial Reporting Officers | Some information sent but not all held |
| The requester asked for a list of Responsible Financial Officers for all local authorities, boards, and joint committees. The Treasury disclosed the officer for most statutory boards but refused to provide information for local authorities, joint committees, and two specific statutory bodies as they do not hold that data. | ||
| 2018-03-19 | Government owned properties | Some information sent but not all held |
| A request was made for a list of government-owned properties excluding social housing and those used for crime prevention or protecting vulnerable people. The Treasury responded with a partial list of properties owned by various departments as of March 2017, noting that not all information was held. | ||
| 2017-12-12 | Civil Legal Aid expenditure | Some information sent but not all held |
| The Treasury responded to a request for detailed Civil Legal Aid expenditure breakdowns by year and category, citing practical refusal grounds for the specific data but providing aggregated net expenditure figures for family and non-family matters over five years. | ||
| 2017-12-07 | Criminal Legal Aid expenditure | Some information sent but not all held |
| The Treasury responded to a request for a detailed breakdown of criminal legal aid expenditure from 2007/08 to 2016/17, providing data on costs and disbursements but refusing to supply exact VAT figures due to the substantial compilation required. | ||
| 2017-10-15 | Suppliers by Dept and Co Origin | Some information sent but not all held |
| 2017-07-15 | Number of Claimants and Benefit Payments | Some information sent but not all held |
| 2017-07-08 | People employed above £40K & NI level | Some information sent but not all held |
| 2017-01-21 | CE Import tax | Some information sent but not all held |