Government childcare announcement: More Conservative chaos hurting families
Ian Shires
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The case for a radical, liberal left
Blue light bill bombshell as emergency services face £144m fuel and insurance costs
Government childcare announcement: More Conservative chaos hurting families
The case for a radical, liberal left
Blue light bill bombshell as emergency services face £144m fuel and insurance costs
Key David Cameron ally Zac Goldsmith admits he’s a ‘non-dom’
by Ian Shires on 29 November, 2009
By Kirsty Walker MailOnline 29 Nov 09
David Cameron’s green adviser Zac Goldsmith is facing calls to resign after admitting that he claims non-domicile tax status.
Mr Goldsmith, who is also standing as a Tory candidate at the General Election, is avoiding paying hugs sums of tax on his estimated £200million fortune.
The multimillionaire has admitted that some of his British properties are held offshore in a Trust which was set up by his late father Sir James Goldsmith.
David Cameron and Zac Goldsmith. An ally of the Tory leader, he was asked to draw up a plan for environmental policies
Mr Goldsmith’s 300-acre ecological farm in Devon and a house in Richmond, bought for £7.75million in 2007, are both owned by companies based in the Cayman Islands.
The disclosure risks embarrassing the Conservative party as the shadow chancellor George Osborne has criticised non-doms for avoiding paying tax and has pledged to impose a £25,000 on their wealth.
Non-domicile status is usually reserved for foreign nationals or people with roots overseas. It allows them to avoid tax on money earned outside Britain, unless they bring the money back into the country.
A spokesman for Mr Goldsmith insisted that the 34-year-old is planning to change his tax status next year.
He added that the former Etonian, who is a close ally of Mr Cameron, already pays tax on his UK business ventures.
‘Zac Goldsmith, along with other members of his family, some of whom live in different parts of the world, is a discretionary beneficiary of a trust … The trust owns a number of properties around the world,’ the spokesman said.
‘The UK element of the trust’s portfolio includes homes which are made available for Zac and his family. These homes are not owned by Zac and are trust assets.
‘Zac does currently have non-domiciled status by virtue of his late father’s domicile. He is, however, resident for tax purposes and has already taken the decision to relinquish his non-domicile status.’
But Lord Oakeshott, the Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman, said: ‘Cameron must sack Zac Goldsmith as a candidate now.
‘He’s not fit to sit in parliament, when he’s claimed non-dom status all his life to keep his offshore hundreds of millions free of income, capital gains or inheritance tax. He must pay the millions he’s dodged to the British taxman.’
1 Comment
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