A multi-millionaire businessman who became a Labour minister last week has admitted holding part of his personal fortune in an offshore tax haven which experts say could have helped him avoid £3m in tax, reports this morning's Times.
The paper claims Lord Drayson, the new defence minister, established offshore trusts and companies in the Isle of Man worth £30m which he raised from the sale of his pharmaceuticals business. Experts say such arrangements are normally set up to avoid tax. The Times says the minister closed his offshore companies on 8 March this year - the week before Gordon Brown introduced new laws to restrict British residents’ use of tax havens. The papers says financial experts claimed a scheme such as Drayson’s could have saved millions in tax. <'p> Yesterday, Drayson admitted holding “financial...
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