Around 2,500 Isle of Man businesses, from sole traders through to some of our largest employers, will receive an important survey imminently.
Similar to the Household Income and Expenditure Survey, the data collected during the business survey is critical for calculating the share of VAT, customs and certain other duties that the Island receives from the UK under the Final Expenditure Revenue Sharing Arrangement (FERSA).
The amount of revenue we currently receive by way of FERSA makes up almost one third of the Island’s income.
Unlike the household survey responding to the business survey is compulsory, and the businesses that receive a copy are required to complete it within a four week period.
The survey asks about the irrecoverable VAT businesses have incurred on their business expenditure. If that figure isn’t known, participating businesses are asked to provide more information on their purchases so an estimate can be made.
FERSA is the revenue sharing agreement between the IoM and UK Governments under which the Isle of Man’s share of the VAT, customs and certain excise duties that are collected by HMRC and the Isle of Man, is determined. FERSA requires Government to measure the irrecoverable VAT (or sticking VAT) incurred at least every five years.
The data is collected by Statistics Isle of Man, who only retain the detailed information for the duration of the survey and will delete it once the calculations are complete.
Support is available for businesses asked to complete the survey, contact details for this are provided on the invitation letters.
