what implication does the tax status of the iom have for me as an investor?
This merely means that the IOM itself does not levy taxation on income or capital gains arising in the IOM if these are earned by investors who are not resident in the IOM. The IOM also does not levy any estate duty on such investments. Whether or not an international investor is taxable on income earned from an IOM-based investment depends entirely on the legislation in the investor’s home country. South Africans who invest in IOM are subject to South African tax on the investment income arising from those investments, excluding dividend income. You will generally not be subject to tax on capital profits provided that you are not a dealer in the investments and provided that you did not acquire the investment for the purposes of selling it at a profit i.e. established capital versus revenue rules apply. South African estate duty will apply to the offshore assets of a South African investor if they were acquired with assets originating in South Africa. In other cases there may be certa
