Conservative Lord Ashcroft 'avoids' full UK tax bill

[4me2]

Conservative Lord Ashcroft 'avoids' full UK tax bill


Lord Ashcroft's business empire is valued at £1.1bn


Lord Ashcroft has continued to avoid millions of pounds of tax despite promising to become a full UK taxpayer, the BBC has learned.
The Conservative peer transferred ownership of his main UK company, the Impellam Group, to a trust for the benefit of his children, Panorama has found.
Lord Ashcroft, who is set to resign as deputy chairman of the Conservative Party, transferred his £17m stake in Impellam on 5 April.
The next day, on 6 April, a new law forced people sitting in the House of Lords to pay tax on their worldwide income and assets.
Tax lawyer Richard Frimston told Panorama that Lord Ashcroft would have faced a hefty inheritance tax bill under the new legislation if he had made the change one day later.
"If that had been done on the following day, assets worth say £17m going into trust would have been subject to tax at 20%, which would have created an immediate inheritance tax charge of something in the region of £3.4m.
"So that was avoided by doing it on 5 April as opposed to waiting until 6 April."
Confirmed status A month before the new law took effect, Lord Ashcroft had said in a statement that he agreed with the new tax rules for the House of Lords.
And in a televised interview on election night, he confirmed that he was becoming a full UK taxpayer.


The billionaire businessman has not broken any rules by using the family trust, but his actions appear to conflict with the coalition government's stance on tax avoidance.
Lord Ashcroft's tax status has long been controversial.
He was only allowed to take up his seat in the House of Lords in 2000 after agreeing to take up permanent residence in the UK and pay tax on his worldwide income.
At the time, the then opposition leader William Hague said Lord Ashcroft's decision would benefit the treasury tens of millions of pounds a year.
But 10 years later, Lord Ashcroft admitted that he had never become a permanent resident after all.
He had got officials to agree he could become a long term resident instead, which meant he did not have to pay tax on his income from abroad.
Panorama: Lord Ashcroft's Millions, BBC One, Monday, 27 September at 2030BST and then available in the UK on the BBC iPlayer.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11415870

[Zippeyrude]

jobs for the boys.. good ol' tories

[Ginnerfreak]

He did nothing that every single one of us wouldnt have done!

Not really a news story.

Guy saves cash by following the law...

WTF!

[Bald Bouncer]

He did nothing that every single one of us wouldnt have done!

Not really a news story.

Guy saves cash by following the law...

WTF!

Yes you could say the same about the endless stories in the papers and on the news about people on benefits who claim more than they should and get dragged through the courts, jailed and slagged off as the scum of society , not defending them but always makes me laugh the double standards how the people who are allowed make the laws leave nice little loopholes for themselves to do things "within the law" which are a piss take for all to see like the switching of houses to avoid capital gains tax.

What you are really saying is you want to be rich enough and in a position you don't have to abide by the laws and conditions 95% of the people here are forced to live under, probably the same as most think but until that time don't be surprised when you see the 95% wanting and outing this hypocrisy while struggling to make ends meet and deal with their dwindling incomes due to having to bail out the country due to cunts like this.

[Ginnerfreak]

Yes you could say the same about the endless stories in the papers and on the news about people on benefits who claim more than they should

Benefit cheating is breaking the law..

Tax avoidance is not.. I would have done the same thing.

Just because he has a bit of cash it doest make him a scumbag for not giving it all away.. which incidentally he does and often. He has donated 20 million in the last 5 years to various charities, He wrote a book on British special forces heroes and donated the proceeds to charity and he was the founder of Crime stoppers and its main benefactor..

what a cunt eh..

My wifes parents signed over their house to us a few years ago in order to avoid paying inheritance tax.. Guess I'm as guilty as Lord Ashcroft.

[GTI]

My wifes parents signed over their house to us a few years ago in order to avoid paying inheritance tax.. Guess I'm as guilty as Lord Ashcroft.

Not at all, but I hope you're charging them rent

[Ginnerfreak]

Not at all, but I hope you're charging them rent

I am a yorkshireman... what do you think..

[Bald Bouncer]

Benefit cheating is breaking the law..

Tax avoidance is not.. I would have done the same thing.

Just because he has a bit of cash it doest make him a scumbag for not giving it all away.. which incidentally he does and often. He has donated 20 million in the last 5 years to various charities, He wrote a book on British special forces heroes and donated the proceeds to charity and he was the founder of Crime stoppers and its main benefactor..

what a cunt eh..

My wifes parents signed over their house to us a few years ago in order to avoid paying inheritance tax.. Guess I'm as guilty as Lord Ashcroft.

Tax avoidance is a crime depending on the details but he obviously uses the loopholes in the laws written and passed by the people like him that abuse them so it's only not a Crime in law it's a crime in every other way and Joe Bloggs who has the money taken away from at every turn doesn't get the chance or option to choose to pay or not, it's taken not given.

Lets have the source on the donations so I have a chance to have a look who, what and possibly why, plus a small price to pay to buy favour considering his savings from lies

After 10 years in which everyone from Cameron downwards had assured the country that Ashcroft had honoured his "clear and unequivocal assurance" that he would "take up permanent residence in the UK" before the end of 2000, a different story emerged. Ashcroft had managed to change the agreement on a technicality to secure non-dom status, so escaping tax bills estimated at more than £100m over the past decade.

As for your wifes parents signed over their house to us a few years ago better just hope they don't die before the 10 years I think it is and the morals are up to you as you are not sitting in the house of lords passing laws so are not in a position to manipulate or have created the situation.

They are all very good at telling the people how things are tight and they have to do their bit while using every opportunity to avoid doing theirs.

[Ginnerfreak]

They are all very good at telling the people how things are tight and they have to do their bit while using every opportunity to avoid doing theirs.

Who are THEY?

I am still not sure what your argument is.. He has done nothing wrong. Is this a Tory bashing thread, a socialist propaganda thread or the rise of comunism in DF??.

[Bald Bouncer]

Who are THEY?

I am still not sure what your argument is.. He has done nothing wrong. Is this a Tory bashing thread, a socialist propaganda thread or the rise of comunism in DF??.

I am not making an argument I am responding to your claim this isn't news and he's done nothing wrong and I was pointing out that the laws are designed and allowed to continue to allow loopholes so if you say he acted within the law then no doubt he did but that does not make it right or what he did not dishonest. As the people making the regulations are the ones allowing the loopholes to remain, he bought his position and invested in PR with his donations which are actually a fraction of what he saved through his non-dom status, he received his peerage in 2000 having led everyone into believing he would, from then on, pay full UK tax, when he had no intention of doing so. again not against the Laws of the land but a good indication of what his donations are all about.

So for me it's news as I said people scrimp and save every day while struggling to survive on what they are allowed to keep from their income while him and people like him have moved themselves into positions with the sole intention of self protection of their own interests not the country as there is over 90 billion a year being lost through non-dom status.

[4me2]

Who are THEY?

I am still not sure what your argument is.. He has done nothing wrong. Is this a Tory bashing thread, a socialist propaganda thread or the rise of comunism in DF??.

It's total abuse of power !

If you are too thick to see what's staring everyone in the face then you surely can't be helped.

You are in a minority view point and you are coming across female genitalia in this thread. You trying far too hard to state a case that is inexcusable. This Lord is a Liar and con artist who noway should be in the privileged position of UK law making.

Michael Anthony Ashcroft, Baron Ashcroft, KCMG, (born 4 March 1946), is an international businessman, philanthropist and politician. He holds dual British and Belizean nationality, and is a Belonger of the Turks & Caicos Islands. Ennobled as a life peer in 2000, he sits in the House of Lords on the Conservative benches. In the Sunday Times Rich List 2009 ranking of the wealthiest people in the UK he was placed 37th with an estimated fortune of £1.1 billion.[1] On 1 March 2010, after 10 years of holding his tax status as private, he revealed that he did not pay tax on his overseas earnings in the UK.[2] He is a former Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael...Baron_Ashcroft

Total abuse of power and was only given his peerage due to his healthy bank account. He is involved in the making of laws that benefit his own kind.

He didn't go into politics out of fucking public duty, no this cunt is self serving.

Why don't we give Rupert fucking Murdoch a peerage too ?

I'm sure these set of cunts and their like buy the influence and political positions in the first place in the way of backhanded party donations.
They act out of greed and self gain and try dressing it up otherwise to create smoke screens. Only the gullible, naive and intellectually challenged are too ignorant to be able to recognise this.

[Ginnerfreak]

Its a shame 4me2 that you cant join a thread and put your point across without making personal insults and using bad language..

[4me2]

Its a shame 4me2 that you cant join a thread and put your point across without making personal insults and using bad language..

Benefit cheating is breaking the law..

Tax avoidance is not.. I would have done the same thing.

Just because he has a bit of cash it doest make him a scumbag for not giving it all away.. which incidentally he does and often. He has donated 20 million in the last 5 years to various charities, He wrote a book on British special forces heroes and donated the proceeds to charity and he was the founder of Crime stoppers and its main benefactor..

>> what a cunt eh.. <<

My wifes parents signed over their house to us a few years ago in order to avoid paying inheritance tax.. Guess I'm as guilty as Lord Ashcroft.

Being as you reported the thread I'll have serious word with myself.

But the bit I said about you being thick I'll say no more about.

Complain about me using bad language and forget that a few posts back you did the same yourself. Hardly Einstein material.

[4me2]

Panorama programme on Lord Ashcroft withdrawn by BBC


The BBC says the programme on Lord Ashcroft's affairs is being reviewed


The BBC has withdrawn an edition of Panorama on the financial affairs of the Conservative peer Lord Ashcroft.
It was due to have been shown on BBC One at 2030 BST on Monday night.
The BBC said it had put a number of questions to Lord Ashcroft two weeks ago and had received a response on a particular issue on Monday.
The Panorama team is now reviewing the programme in light of the new information. The programme was replaced with one about UK military justice.
A BBC spokesperson said: "We put a number of questions to Lord Ashcroft two weeks ago, including one relating to a share interest transfer.
"We asked for a response by Friday 24th September. In a response received this afternoon we have been given information that sheds new light on that issue and we will therefore review the programme."


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11423777



Looks like he's got someone high up in Beeb on his payroll too.

[TwoPlAnKs]

I reckon I'd do the same thing and everyone does, but not in his exact position. Is buying heaps of stamps the week before the price increase OK? Yes, I think it is. Is buying a car the week before the scrappage scheme runs out OK? Again, I think it is. Is buying any large item in the last week of 15% VAT OK? Again, I think it is. People hire accountants just to make the most efficient and sensible use of tax law, it's common place and how the system is supposed to work.

Ashcroft hasn't just made sensible use of tax law though. He took his place in government on the condition that he would pay full UK tax on all earnings, he didn't and has now deliberately circumvented a law specifically put in to stop the exact loophole that he is exploiting. It's a very specific law, banning members of the house of Lords from avoiding tax on international earnings - so much so that it might as well have had "and who are named after both a type of tree and a small farm" on the end of the conditions.

He may not be breaking the law but he is clearly breaking the intent of the law by getting this last wad of cash though the net just in time.

I also doubt his charitable acumen. Not only could he easily have afforded this without even thinking about it, showing he is a bit miserly, but he also donates a fortune to particular political causes which is wrong when done for any party. Nobody should be able to buy elections, and he more or less contributed to exactly that. This puts him in the same bracket as scum like Murdoch or anyone else of that ilk in my book, and this sort of tax trickery is just further evidence of it.

[Ginnerfreak]

Being as you reported the thread I'll have serious word with myself.

But the bit I said about you being thick I'll say no more about.

Complain about me using bad language and forget that a few posts back you did the same yourself. Hardly Einstein material.

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

[4me2]

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

Many people, just not you.

[I Black Belt]

Question: Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? - "Who will guard the guards themselves?

Answer: Vox Populi - "The voice of the people, or man on the street"