Monaco millionaires face crackdown
Gaines-Cooper case will change the way tax exiles are treated, advisers say
Tax advisers say that a Special Commissioners’ judgment has changed the way
the government treats so-called
‘Monaco
millionaires’.
Wealthy individuals based in tax havens who commute to the UK to work for
part of the week could be hit by the ruling, which relates to millionaire
Seychelles businessman
Robert
Gaines-Cooper.
Mike Warburton, of Grant
Thornton, says the judgment means that a Monday to Wednesday vist, hitherto
treated as one day, would now be regarded as two days, if two nights are spent
in the UK.
That could draw a whole host of people into the UK tax net. Philip Green, the
billionaire retailer, and his wife Tina, could be affected, some advisers are
saying.
The case is said to go against HMRC guidance on the issue, which may now be
changed.
Further reading
Tax
havens lose some attraction as Revenue goes on the offensive
Special
Commissioners’ judgments