TUC puts tax avoidance centre stage

CELEBRITIES and corporations are using offshore trusts, tax havens or wives and civil partners to avoid paying their fair share of tax, according to a new study.

The TUC published the most popular ways the “regularly employed” to get around tax rules as part of its campaign for action against celebrity tax dodgers.

Tax-avoiding measures included the use of tax havens such as the Bahamas and Panama, sports stars paying tax separately on their image rights, and income being paid to a wife or civil partner.

The domicile rule was said to be the tax dodger’s best friend, allowing the super-rich to live in the UK but place most of their income offshore.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: “The overwhelming majority of people in the UK have little choice over the amount of tax they pay and unlike big corporations and super-rich celebrities don’t have the means to employ expensive accountants to help them avoid paying their fair share of tax.

“Each year billions of pounds which the super-rich should be paying in tax leaves the country and is lost to the public purse.

“The Chancellor has said he finds tax avoidance morally repugnant – so do we and that’s why we want him to act.”