The taxman is £246m out of pocket after the pandemic. That equates to £3,000 for every man, woman and child who lives in sthe Isle of Man.

The figure has been revealed by the government’s detailed accounts for 2020/21, which will be laid before Tynwald next week and covers the accounting period for the year ended March 31, 2021.

It looks only at how much money is raised through taxes. So the costs for individuals and businesses are not included.

The government’s income was down £111m. In addition it spent £109m extra in direct support costs and £26m in other costs, for example the purchase of personal protective equipment.

The final position for indirect taxation receipts (VAT) will be determined in the near future and will be reported as part of the Statutory Accounts during August.

While the figures might be stark, the Treasury Minister was not downbeat. Alfred Cannan said: ’The cost to the public purse of dealing with the pandemic will not be a surprise but it is well within the worst-case estimates that I presented to Tynwald in July 2020.

’In order to meet our costs, a total of £57m was transferred from the Contingency Fund to cover pandemic operational costs, £78m was transferred from the National Insurance Fund to cover additional benefit costs and £111m of reduced Government revenue was funded by reduced costs and the residual deficit from the Net General Revenue Account [£60.5m].

’However, despite this activity our reserves remain strong and indeed the market value of our externally invested reserves grew by £37.3m over the year, standing at £1.84bn at the end of March.’

He added that capital expenditure for the year was just under £72m, close to last year’s level despite the pandemic, and that most government departments remained within their revenue budgets and actively managed the revenue impacts of the pandemic by approved fund claims and reducing costs, where possible.

’While the pandemic has undoubtedly affected our financial position, these accounts provide continued evidence of the strength of our finances and will provide a platform for future economic recovery,’ he said.

’The actions we have taken and the financial support we have delivered to protect jobs, businesses and individuals has been both necessary and appropriate.’