Simplepage is moving its software business from a UK Ltd to the Isle of Man, a Crown Dependency with a 0% corporation tax rate for most trading companies - and the tax is not the reason. The Isle of Man shares VAT rules with the UK, its company law is close enough to UK law that the legal concepts travel, and its government runs a programme (Digital Isle of Man) that actively recruits small tech companies. This post is the full reasoning - the structural case, the honest downsides, and what the move means for clients and products - in more detail than a LinkedIn post would allow, and with less glamour than a tax-advice firm's sales deck.
Why is Simplepage leaving its UK company structure?
Simon Antony Ltd has been a UK-registered web agency since 2008, and a UK Ltd is a fine wrapper for an agency. It's done fine. Good clients, solid work, no drama. But Simplepage, the new entity, is a different shape of business: it sells SaaS products to an international audience, it owns a portfolio of platforms, and it treats services as one of several revenue streams rather than the whole business.
A UK Ltd is a more awkward wrapper for a product company operating across UK, EU and Rest-of-World markets. We looked at the options. We picked the Isle of Man. If you're weighing your own jurisdiction choice, maybe some of this will be useful.
What are the Isle of Man's tax and VAT rules for companies?
The Isle of Man charges 0% corporation tax for most trading companies, shares VAT rules with the UK through a Customs & Excise agreement, and sets its own National Insurance rates. It sits in the Common Travel Area but is not part of the UK, and it is a Crown Dependency with its own parliament (Tynwald, the oldest continuous parliament in the world - 979 AD, in case it comes up at a pub quiz).
For a company, the three numbers that matter:
Corporation tax rate: 0% for most trading companies. Retail businesses with profits over £500k and banking businesses pay 10% and 15% respectively. We're neither.
VAT: aligned with the UK. We don't save on VAT. We don't lose on it either.
National Insurance: IoM-specific rates. Generally lower than the UK, particularly at the employer-contribution end.
The 0% headline is what gets airtime in news articles. It is real, but it is not the point. A 19% tax saving on a small two-director company's profits is a nice-to-have. It is not the reason to move a business. The reason to move is structural.
Why does jurisdiction matter for a software company?
Jurisdiction determines how much friction a software company hits on every routine task - registry updates, payments, tax returns, hiring rules - and that friction is different in different places.
In the UK: slow company registry updates, a payments ecosystem that assumes you're selling to UK buyers, IR35 rules designed for a services economy, and a VAT environment that is workable but not friendly for small-scale digital exports. Good law, reliable, but designed for a different shape of company than ours.
On the Isle of Man: company registry updates in days not weeks, English-language law very close to UK company law so the legal concepts travel, a government actively recruiting tech companies, and a regulator (Digital IoM) that runs events we actually want to go to. Digital Isle of Man has been running the Innovation Challenge for years. They've funded a lot of small teams to de-risk their IoM expansion.
For a three-person team that sells products to a global audience, the structural fit is cleaner.
What convinced Simplepage to move, if not the tax?
Three things convinced us, in order of weight: lower admin overhead per decision, the Digital Isle of Man programme, and the fact that we want to run a smaller business.
One: lower admin overhead per decision. An agency that ships client work spends most of its admin time on VAT returns, PAYE, PSCs. A product company spends most of its admin time on payment-processor due diligence, cross-border tax, and renewals. The IoM has fewer moving parts for the product-company shape, and a more responsive civil service when we have a question.
Two: the Digital IoM programme. We applied as an Activation Partner before incorporation. The programme gives early-stage tech companies subsidised office space, a real-person introduction to relevant local businesses, and access to a network of other technical founders on the island. It's the kind of soft support that a UK regional enterprise agency would take six months to arrange. IoM does it in six weeks.
Three: we want to run a smaller business. If your ambition is VC scale, you move to London or SF. If your ambition is a profitable product company with no investors, a team you know by name, and a life outside work, the Isle of Man has a compelling pitch. Rent is cheaper than London. Commutes are minutes. The broadband is fine. The coastline is spectacular.
What are the downsides of moving a company to the Isle of Man?
The honest downsides are payment processors, banking speed, relocation rules, the size of the island, and a finite talent pool - friction that doesn't show up in the tax-saving column.
Payment processors. Stripe does not operate in the Isle of Man. This was a real consideration. We use LemonSqueezy across all our products instead, which handles VAT compliance and international currency, but it takes 5% + 50 cents per transaction, which is heavier than Stripe's 1.5-2.9% for our volume. Budget a margin hit if you're leaving Stripe for LemonSqueezy.
Banking. IoM business banking is doable but not quick. Onboarding runs 4-8 weeks for a new company with a new director. Plan for a float that covers the gap, or keep your UK banking relationship alive in parallel for the transition period.
Practical relocation. If you're actually moving to the island (not just incorporating from the mainland), there are residency rules, housing queues, and a 12-month minimum presence requirement if you want to benefit from the tax rate personally. We're doing the personal move over 2026-2027.
The island is small. 85,000 residents. One supermarket chain has 60% of the grocery market. Your electrician is someone's cousin. This is mostly a pro (relationships are fast) but occasionally a con (if you fall out with a supplier, there often isn't another one).
Talent pool. The local software talent pool is good but finite. For any role beyond a three-person team you'll be hiring remote, either UK or further. Factor that into growth plans.
What does the move mean for Simplepage clients and products?
Simplepage Ltd (IoM) starts trading on day one post-incorporation, and client billing for new work runs through the IoM entity. Existing Simon Antony Ltd retainer clients stay with the UK entity for continuity, and we migrate them one at a time rather than in a big-bang. Products (Eddi, Sumlo, Patch) already sell under their own domains and take payment via LemonSqueezy, so there's no transition work on that side.
The simplepage.com website is the launch marker. The move of the team follows later.
Should you move your own company to the Isle of Man?
A move to the Isle of Man is worth a conversation with Digital IoM before it is worth anything else. They run an Innovation Challenge each year, their Strategic Partnerships team books intro calls without a fuss, and the cost of a research trip to the island is lower than most people assume. We made ours pay for itself in a weekend.
The longer answer: don't do this for tax. Do it because the structural fit matches the business you want to run. If the fit is right, the tax is a bonus. If the fit is wrong, the tax doesn't save you.