The Chief Minister has written to all MPs after the island was cleared of VAT avoidance on imported jets.

An investigation by HM Treasury found the Manx government had correctly implemented UK and EU VAT law for aircraft and yachts.

But it called for additional post-registration compliance procedures to ensure that the right VAT continues to be collected.

The government asked HM Treasury to carry out the review following a series of allegations of VAT avoidance in late 2017 that emerged following the Paradise Papers exposé.

It was alleged that aircraft were being used for leisure by owners who falsely claimed their plane was being used for business in order to claim back the VAT.

Chief Minister Howard Quayle said that extra checks had been implemented even before the Paradise Papers were first published.

He said: ’We started to beef up post-repayment checks before the Paradise Papers.

’We had already recognised that more needed to be done to do checks.

’As a responsible jurisdiction we always look at how we can do things better.’

Resources and expertise on post-VAT registration compliance have been increased, he said, with that process starting before the Paradise Papers.

Steps will be taken to further strengthen compliance checks, the Chief Minister said.

Mr Quayle said the island had been ’through the eye of a needle’ for two years under such intense scrutiny.

Stories alleging tax avoidance were published in the UK press and became the focus of a controversial BBC Panorama documentary.

Mr Quayle, who announced the HM Treasury’s findings in a statement of ’considerable public importance’ to Tynwald last week, said: ’This is a really, really good result. As I said right at the very beginning, we have not broken any rules.

’I will be writing to MPs to update them on the situation.’

He pointed out the TV and newspaper reports cannot be unwritten and wished he had asked Panorama at the time if it would apologise if the island was proved not to have done anything wrong.