Lord Ashcroft

[colonel c]

With all the Labour leadership hubbub going on I bet the Tories are hoping this will pass unnoticed.

AFP said:

LONDON — Conservative Party peer Lord Ashcroft is at the centre of a new tax row after being accused on Monday of transferring ownership of his main British company to avoid the payment of £3.4 million.

The outgoing deputy party chairman transferred his £17 million stake in Impellam Group to a trust fund for his daughter on April 5, the day before new legislation was implemented which forced members of the House of Lords and House of Commons to pay tax on their worldwide income and assets, the BBC discovered.

Had he made the move a day later, the peer would have been liable for 20-percent inheritance tax, totalling £3.4 million.

There is no suggestion that the billionaire businessman has acted illegally, but the move is likely to cause consternation in the light of his record of tax payment and the government's promise to tighten up on tax avoidance amid severe public spending cuts.

The party donor was allowed to take his seat in the upper house in 2000 after agreeing to give up his non-domicile tax status and take up permanent residence.

But it emerged ahead of this year's general election that the switch never took place and he had managed instead to acquire long-term resident status, which meant he did not have to pay tax on his foreign income.

[colonel c]

5potTurbo said:

OP: If it was you, would you have acted the same as Lord Ashcroft or simply asked HMRC, "To whom should I make the cheque payable?"

Good tax advice, IMO!

And you can't trust any politician or party. That's why they do what they do.

Gets off

I merely commented that the Tories might be happy if this news story went largely unnoticed.

Edited by colonel c on Monday 27th September 19:13

[colonel c]

Jonathan27 said:

If I had his money, I would do all that I could to minimise my tax liability, and I don't doubt for a moment that all of you would do the same (even those who are lambasting him now). Heck, I wish I could reduce my tax liability on what (relatively) little income I have now!

Someone will inevitably reply to state that they would pay UK tax in his position, so to save me having to post again, 'you're lying'.
I pay around £1,500 per month in (Direct) tax and I hate it, yes I know that I get services in return (not many that I use), but I still see this as my money being taken away.

He is entitled to manage his finances as he sees fit.
However he has also used his wealth to buy power, influence and a seat in the House of Lords. Do you not see the hypocrisy. George Osborne says "we're all in this together". Yet the Man whom financed a large part of the Tories election campaign don't want to play his part of of the country's recovery.

[colonel c]

Iain328 said:

colonel c said:

He is entitled to manage his finances as he sees fit.
However he has also used his wealth to buy power, influence and a seat in the House of Lords. Do you not see the hypocrisy. George Osborne says "we're all in this together". Yet the Man whom financed a large part of the Tories election campaign don't want to play his part of of the country's recovery.

You were doing OK till you got to the usual rubbish about how he financed "a large part" of the Tories campaign. He didn't, look the figures up, from memory Ashcroft's money accounts for significantly less than 5% of Tory party funding over the last 10 years.

Fair comment. I don't have access the the Tories accounts. His donations over the years have been clouded in so much secrecy by using different non UK companies. I would be surprised if anyone know the exact amount donated. Therein lies the problem. Being secretive and pulling so many dodges to get the money into the Tory coffers it's no surprise that people speculate his motives. Perhaps he just wanted to avoid (that word again) paying UK tax on his donations.
But then the slur falls on the Tories that they are happy to accept dodgy cash, hence my OP.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politic...