Under fire Sir Sean reveals £3.7m tax bill

The James Bond legend has handed over almost 3.7 million in the last six years despite living in the Bahamas.

The star, who is a well-known supporter of the SNP and an important financial contributor to the party, believes he has become an easy target for opponents who try to portray him as a false friend of Scotland.

By revealing the scale of his tax bill he hopes that he will stop further attacks, which he expects during the election campaign for the Scottish Parliament next month.

The Edinburgh-born star told today why he made the extraordinary decision to go public on his tax bill, saying he wanted to "empty the bag" in what he calls "a leap of faith".

"I defy anyone in Scotland to find one detail where I knowingly ever did anything that was to the detriment of Scotland. It gets up my nose.

"I get battered with this living in Marbella, living in the Bahamas, whatever. I moved out of Scotland like millions of other people and I’ll explain under what circumstances I’ll go back, which one would adore to do, except not until they get it right.

"Everything I’ve got is tax paid. I don’t have any blind trusts. And I hope this erases some of the cynicism about my financial affairs.

"I pay full tax wherever I am working. That’s the way it works in the film industry. Since I’ve gone out of my way to bring film projects to the UK, instead of Hollywood, that’s meant I’ve paid full tax here."

Sir Sean has revealed that he paid 1.38m in UK taxes in 1997/1998; 1.3m in 1998/1999; and similar sums ranging from 379,000 to 77,000 in the following years - totalling 3,694,591.

He also said he is about to pay another tax cheque for 972,160, which will bring the total paid since 1997 to more than 4.6m.

But despite the size of his payments the star said he is still "treated like a leper by the tax authorities".

The 72-year-old also claims that he was denied a knighthood by Labour in 1997 - after being recommended by the two outgoing Conservative ministers - as a result of his strong alliance with the Scottish National Party.

The former milkman said he had been nominated for a knighthood by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport after the 1997 election.

But he claimed the move was "discouraged" by junior Scottish Office minister Sam Galbraith and eventually rejected by the Scottish Secretary, Donald Dewar.

The snub came after Sir Sean played a leading role in the referendum which created the first Scottish Parliament in 300 years.

Sir Sean said: "I had been put up for a knighthood by Michael Forsyth and Virginia Bottomley, and Galbraith and Dewar said no way. Why?

"Because one had too much publicity associated with the nationalists.

"I supported the Yes-Yes vote, and it was a fantastic result, but I had already been blackballed from the knighthood."

Sir Sean said Peter Mandelson phoned him in February 1998 and told him there had been a "misunderstanding".

The actor was eventually knighted by the Queen at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh in July 2000.