Scottish ex-Dragon backs Ed Miliband over non-dom

FORMER Dragons’ Den star Duncan Bannatyne has backed Ed Miliband over the Labour leader’s plan to scrap non-dom tax status.
Former Dragon's Den star Duncan Bannatyne. Picture: PAFormer Dragon's Den star Duncan Bannatyne. Picture: PA
Former Dragon's Den star Duncan Bannatyne. Picture: PA

The health club entrepreneur said he did not think any party had the “courage” to end the 200-year-old rule, which applies to around 116,000 wealthy people.

It comes after the hotelier signed a letter sent to the Daily Telegraph from more than 100 business leaders stating the “Conservative-led Government has been good for business” and backing the cut in corporation tax to 20%.

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But Mr Bannatyne, 66, tweeted: “Ed Milliband says he will abolish non-dom status in UK. This gets my vote. I never thought any party would have courage to do this.”

He later added: “If you do not understand the non-dom law in UK then you don’t understand your country.”

And in conversations with users on the social network he said he felt the benefit to the public purse would be “substantial” and tax from non-doms “can be used to support the NHS”.

It is not the first time Mr Bannatyne has been outspoken on the issue - he retweeted a link to a 2010 article for Business Matters in which he said non-doms had an “unfair” advantage over other businesses.

He wrote: “The non-dom situation is very relevant to business owners like me in the UK because we find ourselves at a distinct disadvantage when competing with businesses owned by non-doms. Normal UK business owners pay taxes on all earnings before paying for a new car or a family holiday, unlike non-doms, so there is less money available to pump back into the future of their businesses.

“This is not the fault of the non-doms; rather, it is the laws that allow them to play the system that need addressing, but if the country has more and more non-dom run businesses in 20 years’ time corporation tax has got to go up to fund the non-doms. The law has to be changed.”

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