There was lots of sanctimonious guff on Twitter from assorted lefties last night about the Sunday Times story that Zac Goldsmith is a 'non dom'. They even tried to suggest that he should resign as a candidate or David Cameron should sack him. Er, on what grounds exactly? What law has he broken? Yup, that's right, none. His tax status is a matter between him and the tax authorities. If they are satisfied with it, it's rather difficult to see why Kerry McCarthy (for it is she) shouldn't be. In any case, Goldsmith has decided to withdraw from 'non dom' status before the election so that's rather spiked the guns of those who seek to do him down.
There's another Tory Toff story in the Mail on Sunday. Apparently David Cameron is trying to persuade Tory candidates with double barrelled names to change them to single surnames. Or not. He made a jokey remark to Annunziata Rees-Mogg about the benefits of changing her name to Nancy Mogg. She didn't, it appears see the funny side of it. I think Jake Mogg has a certain ring to it too. If I had followed my mother's advice when I was 17 I would now be called Iain Campbell-Dale. She advised me to make my middle and surnames into a double barrelled name as it "would help me get on in life". And who can say she wasn't right? The trouble is, I have always hated by middle name so there wasn't a cat in hell's chance of that happening.
So here's a challenge. Make up some double barrelled names for some of our politicians and leave them in the comments.
69 comments:
Oh come on Iain. Goldsmith has written artlicles criticising city bankers, bonuses, etc, and now we find out he is a tax avoiding non dom.
I know you are a Tory, but to defend this is to defend the indefensible. But as your friend Lord Ashcroft is still not clarifying his own tax position, many years after he promised to do s when being appointed the the Lords, you are at least consistent in your defence of tax avoiding Tories.
One wonders what your arguments would have been if it were a Lib Dem candidate.
I will be clear. Anyone not paying UK income tax should not be legally able to stand for parliament, and that goes for all parties.
No wonder the Tories were so keen to overturn a Lords ammendment recently which would have made it illegal for Non doms to fund UK political parties.
To paint this as a class issue, one of attacking toffs, is just plain silly.
Dave Dishonest-Cameron, Ken Giscard-Clarke?
There's that important pair David Davis-Noee and David Davies-Withee.
George Osborn said we were all in this together. He failed to say, apart from Zac Goldsmith and the deputy chairman of the Conservative party. And how many other leading supporters and candidates are non-doms?
How can someone claim to represent the British people if they don't fully pay UK taxes? And he has yet to abandon it - I'll abandon it is what you say when you face publicity...
Gordon Brown-Brown (so dull they named him twice)
Peter Mandelson-Piano-Concerto (if everyone else has a double barreled name, he wants one more)
Harriet-Jack Harman-Dromey (equality taken to extremes)
Alan Johnson-Washington (sucking up to the USA)
Quite right too.
Campbell translated from the \gselic into English means "Crooked Mouth"
The Zac revelation is manna from heaven to us Richmond Lib Dems who are working to further reduce his very slim chance of gaining Richmond Park. We have already successfully branded him as a carpet bagger as his main residence is in Cornwall. Now we know he is a tax dodger as well we will make sure everyone knows: http://www.richmond.libdems.org.uk/news/002447/zac_goldsmith_admits_he_is_a_nondom.html
"Kerry Twit-McCarthy"
"Peter Vladamir-Mandelson"
"Gordon Brown-Pants"
"Tony Showbiz-Blair"
"Ed Balls-Up"
"Kevin Red-Maguire"
Or perhaps actually comment on the post iain !
that you just shrug your shoulders and laugh it off shows how little some in the conservative party have changed.
So you think it fair and morally right that zac evades paying tax and yet is able to criticise government spending which he doesn't contriubute to and stand as a conservative candidate.
Its another story where cameron and his friends wealth is being highlighted. Money isn't the issue its doing the right thing and not evading tax.
Your smug comments last night and this morning just show how out of touch you are with people.
Ask any pensioner whose paid tax all his/her life what they think.
"So here's a challenge. Make up some double barrelled names for some of our politicians and leave them in the comments."
I'm fairly sure that'd break your comment policy! ;)
Gordon Incapability-Brown
Alistair More-T-Darling?
Edward Wood-Balls
Yvette Mini-Cooper
Tessa Santander-Jowell
The Rt Hon Lord Mandelson-Dome
Ann-Tony Blair
"Money isn't the issue its doing the right thing and not evading tax."
Tax evasion is illegal, there is no illegality going on here.
"How can someone claim to represent the British people if they don't fully pay UK taxes?"
Why not? I am perfectly capable of deciding who can and cannot represent me, I don't need you to dictate for me.
Frankly we should be encouraging people to avoid tax, not condemning those who do.
You're completely wrong on this one, Iain. Of course Goldsmith has broken no laws, but as you say yourself: "In any case, Goldsmith has decided to withdraw from 'non dom' status before the election so that's rather spiked the guns of those who seek to do him down."
Why is he going to withdraw his "non dom" status at all if he's done nothing wrong? If you genuinely believe his critics are wrong, why don't you advise Goldsmith to maintain his non-dom status? If there's nothing wrong with it today, there would be nothing wrong with it next year or the year after, surely?
Admit it - he's "decided" to change his status next year because he (and you) thinks it is indefensible.
And it is.
Norfolk Blogger says :
"Anyone not paying UK income tax should not be legally able to stand for parliament."
INCLUDING all who pay no tax other than on gross benefits income should NOT be able to VOTE either. To vary the Boston Tea Party : No representation without taxation.
Alan Douglas
Anthony Wedgwood Benn
oh, hang on..
Alistair Homer-Darling
Liam Carpet-Byrne
@Norfolk Blogger
I agree with everything you said.
Labour conservative or Liberal if you want to be an MP at least pay your bloody taxes and not only when the media finds out that your not.
How anyone in the Tory party can excuse this and shrug it off is beyond me.
I repeat this isn't a party political issue its a moral one.
I can see the rightwing bloggers scurrying to point out labour or liberals who may be doing this if any are then i'd say the same.
are you still awaiting instructions as to your response to the UKIP offer story ?
or is it not as important as silly surnames ?
With Ken's determination to reduce our government to council status...
how about Ken Townall-Clarke
Hilary Wedgwood Benn (that's his real name)
Jacqui Home-Smith II
Alan Lyndon-B-Johnson (sucking up to USA)
Caroline Flint-Stone
Alistair Grace-Darling
Edward Tork-Balls
Harold Wilson-Palacios
Herman van Rompy-Pumpy
It must be said, if (James) Gordon Brown went by his given first name, I'd be more inclined to vote Labour, purely for the (I) Feel Good factor!
Sanctimonious it may be to criticise the man for prating about his local roots when he doesn't contribute to the country. But how does the man stand for being a green who knows best how we should run our lives and yet doesn't pay taxes here? A greater humbug than Bono I rather think.
Sanctimonious it may be to criticise the man for prating about his local roots when he doesn't contribute to the country. But how does the man stand for being a green who knows best how we should run our lives and yet doesn't pay taxes here? A greater humbug than Bono I rather think.
Oh come on Iain Dilly-Dale,
You seriously can't see anything wrong with people blatantly avoiding paying taxes and then potentially becoming a minister with responsibility for Revenue and Customs for example?
Ahh, the Labour leechcraft is running on full power this weekend. How much more blood can they suck out of others before Monday, Iain? Weakness they cause, but weak they are.
David Climategate Cameron
Zach Taxfree-Goldsmith, perhaps?
You are onto a loser here, Mr Dail.
Blogger Norfolk Blogger said...
I will be clear. Anyone not paying UK income tax should not be legally able to stand for parliament, and that goes for all parties.
Hear, hear.
@ golden-balls
Now there's a very silly double-barreled monica.
"So you think it fair and morally right that zac evades paying tax and yet is able to criticise government spending which he doesn't contriubute to and stand as a conservative candidate."
So you don't understand the difference between evasion and avoidance? And for those thousands of others who pay no tax at all, what of them? Are they, too, not allowed to criticise or stand as candidates of any party?
A ridiculous and stupid position.
Come off it, Ian! Your comments are a wind up, aren't they? Of course it is important if a candidate is a tax exile, and I can't believe you can seriously believe it is not
I wouldn't go as far as Norfolk Blogger and say only those paying UK Income tax can stand for Parliament, as that would prevent the unemployed from standing.
However it must be right that nobody should stand for election (for the UK Parliament,Scottish Parlaiment, or the Welsh, & Northern Ireland assemblies or local government) unless they are a UK resident for tax purposes. In fact I would go further, and insist that they had been for at least 5 years before the election.
Similarly members of the House of Lords should be only be permittee to speak & vote if they have been UK resident for at least 5 years.
At the risk of being critical what does worry me is the number of members of the Commons and Lords, and especially the Government, the bulk of whose assets and incomes are offshored. It may explain why we could be soon spending more of the taxpayers money on propping up their fortunes in bailouts than in the Defence of the Realm.
@ Norfolk Blogger
"Goldsmith has written artlicles criticising city bankers, bonuses, etc, and now we find out he is a tax avoiding non dom."
And this 'avoidance' means that he's not allowed to write critical articles? How do you feel about the average small businessman avoiding tax by claiming his/her business expenses? You know, people like plumbers, carpenters, cab drivers and the like.
"Anyone not paying UK income tax should not be legally able to stand for parliament, and that goes for all parties."
OK, so this includes those who are so poor as to not be paying income tax?
As far as I'm concerned if Goldsmith operates legally then that is all there is to it. If you believe the tax regime is morally dubious (and, as it happens, I do) then maybe that's where you should concentrate your fire. However, let's not indulge in the politics of jealousy, eh?
@ Will
Well, that's a Brand New Gag for a Sex Machine.
I have delivered a challenge to Iain - I'll pretend to be a Conservative and we'll go canvassing a swing-ward in Richmond Park together. He can give his explanation and press the Zac case.
There seem a lot of loonies in the Tory party if you read a few of these posts. The difference is that Zac chose to pay lower taxes as a non-dom instead of paying it like a resident. I doubt if there are many low-paid non-doms.
And that person on benefits may have had huge experience in the third sector and as soon as he/she became an MP would be paying tax. Isn't it Tory policy to encourage those out of work to take up third sector opportunities?
I do hope they keep Zac as the candidate. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don't deselect him.
I quite like Zac Goldsmith's politics but it it absolutely incredible Iain that you think his choosing not to pay tax is irrelevant to his political position.
Perhaps if this becomes a bigger story someone in the mainstream media will pick up that Lord Rothermere, owner of the Daily Mail pulls a similar non-dom trick according to Private Eye.
Non-dom status will make next to no difference to Goldsmith's tax bill.
His father was resident in France when he died, I believe. The estate was "offshore". It is likely to stay there.
The simple fact is that whatever money Goldsmith earns in the UK is taxed in the UK. If he then chooses to take what is left and invest it somewhere where the tax rate is lower, that is entirely legal.
Iain, although I agree Zac Goldsmith is well within his rights to be a non-dom and save himself a tax liability, it is surely too cynical for the man to protest he has done anything wrong but then go on to change his situation?
He should either defend his situation and keep with it or admit he's in the wrong and step down.
Given, as we agree, no laws have been broken and he has no case to answer, he should have the confidence of his convictions and stick with option 1.
If Cameron makes him change the non-dom status then the Tory leader will be confirming he is shallow and obsessed with PR.
There is one rule for them and one rule for the poor people.
The poor people have a remedy. Don't vote for them.
A vote for Labour, Libdem or the Conservatives is a vote for the status quo (or pigs at the trough).
Remember the poll tax: No representation without taxation!
But seriously, surely MPs should be drawn from the full members of society, not flighty freeloaders.
All Mr Cameron is trying to do is get rid of the terrible image the Tories have of not caring for anything but themsleves.
It's OK, it won't last. As soon as he gets in he will revert to proper Tory and tell all the lower orders to get knotted, but in the meantime he needs their votes.
Peter Duck-Viggers
I live in Richmond. We have a useless, anti resident Lib Dem council and a hectoring, right on, idiot of a Lib Dem MP. Almost anyone could beat Susan Kramer at the next election. I write almost anyone
because Zac Glodsmith can't and won't.
What a wasted opportunity for the Tories.
Our appetite for an MP with too much money, lecturing us about having to pay much more tax and to stop aspiring to the kind of lifestyle his favourable tax status allows, just isn't there.
In addition, as a general principle, shouldn't prospective Tory candidates be unequivocally committed to the rule of law ?
Gordon Brown Stuff
That's right Iain,
"It was within the rules"
Priceless!
Unsworth
Zac is working the system ! he's not doing anything illegal but how anyone can defend this !
Are some really equating the unemployed who pay no tax due to having NO JOB and a person who has a 200 million pound fortune.
Tom Harris has a good point if zac and others think he's not done anything wrong then stick with your convictions and pay no tax.
Let the voters decide i know what the outcome would be if he did and so does he.
How many other potential mps are doing this ?
I actually thought when reading this post even Tories would disapprove how wrong i was.
You really are scraping the barrel in your defence here.
It wouldn't be so bad if we weren't all going to have to pay for his love of climate tax.
Will he be able to escape carbon credits?
It worked for Catherine Zeta(-)Jones
I assume when Zac goes abroad to maintain his non-dom tax break he does so by bicycle rather than one of the new fangled things like aircraft. After all he doesn't, like Al Gore, believe it is merely the common people who should be forced to have a tiny "carbon footprint" does he?
I don't think that Cameron should sack Zac Goldsmith for being non-dom... he should sack him for being a hypocritical idiot "greenie".
I'm not sure I agree with your assessment of double-barrelled surnames. They seem most often to be left-wing peers. There was a whole bunch of them in the 70s (including a few Tories, to be fair) after George George-Brown set a trend, and these days we have Dafydd Elis Elis-Thomas and Dafydd Elystan Elystan-Morgan. Dare we look forward to Iain Campbell Iain-Dale, Baron Iain-Dale of West Ham in the county of Essex?
Having said that (and I presume that the fall of this Labour government will lead to another rash of such monstrous givenname-surname surnames), some of the cabinet do have Campbell-Dale type names:
Alastair MacLean-Darling
David Wright-Miliband
John "Jack" Whitaker-Straw
John Yorke-Denham
Andrew Murray-Burnham (although he might get mistaken for a tennis player)
Patrick Bosco-McFadden
And of course there are two that already have double-barrelled names:
Hilary James Wedgwood-Benn
Tessa Jane Helena Douglas-Jowell
Benn can just about get away with it, but it would be tempting to do a Crick on the next election campaign, spending the day calling Tessa Jowell "Doug".
Why does anyone think Goldsmith has the discipline or selflessness to function as a party MP?
Hasn't it always been clear that even if he wins, he won't be able to function in the parliamentary party? The guy makes Kilroy Silk look self- efffacing.
The whole thing is a disaster waiting to happen.
Hmm, no. I think I'll comment on your post rather than make jokes. You can't gloss over the elitism and hypocrisy with quite that pathetic a diversionary tactic.
1. That someone seeking to influence taxation and government spending avoids paying tax in this fashion is clearly an issue and to pretend it is not does you no credit whatsoever.
2. He is not voluntarily dropping his non-dom status. Being an MP would be incompatible with non-dom status. You either don't know the rules or are being typically disingenuous.
I usually try not to be sanctimonious about these things but really? He's not paying tax and is advocating tax policy for the rest of us? It's a classic one rule for those with the cash and another for those without. He'd be happier in the House of Lords where he would't have to worry about a silly electorate who care about these kind of things.
This will be a divisive issue at the next election and could easily lose the tories this seat - and one of their best chances to take one back from the Lib Dems.
Sorry Iain, you miss the point entirely. Zac is a nice enough guy. I have shared a table with him at a dinner where he was a speaker. He is charming and well-meaning, but the idea that a non-dom (who thereby claims an attachment to a foreign country) is a proper person to be voting on the laws that fix our taxes while he benefits from a special status.
The excuses from spokesmen that he pays taxes on his UK income just rubs salt in the wounds. If he didn't he would go to prison. It is his income accumulating offshore that is of relevance, and which would be taxable to most British residents. If Goldsmith feels that he is sufficiently different from the rest of the UK population that despite growing up in London and going to school in the UK, he deserves to pay tax on a lower share of his income than the rest of us, then he should tax his ideas about green taxes for the rest of us and stick them in a tax haven.
Gordon Bennett-Brown
Alistair Moveover-Darling
George Ossie-Osborne (more rock and roll)
Eric Mustard-Pickles
Paddy Cash-Tipping
Baroness Barking-Hogg
Neil Kinnock-Kinnock
Gerry Adams-Family
Diane Abbott-Nun
Richard Bacon-Sandwich
Kevin Hardup-Barron
Vincent Cable-Street
Nick Compo-Clegg
Liam Fox-Hunter
George Dumfries-Galloway
Harriet Whatanomaly-Harman
This is too much juvenile fun. I really must stop (but Zac Goldsmith looks increasingly a liability - given his green meanie credentials it might be a mercy for the Tory party if he is not elected).
Zac Goldsmith is hot. It's good to hear that he will pay proper tax soon though.
Double barrelled names with a hyphen are so non-u.
So the millionaire tree hugger avoids paying his taxes while thinking up ways for us non millionaires to pay more taxes to the new green fake religion?
Sorry but "not against the rules" isn't going to fly as an excuse here either.
There are some dumb Lib Dems on here !!!!
Read the full story on Zac and not just the headlines.
He pays UK income tax.
The spokesman told the Sunday Times: "Zac Goldsmith, along with other members of his family, some of whom live in different parts of the world, is a discretionary beneficiary of a trust ... The trust owns a number of properties around the world.
"The UK element of the trust's portfolio includes homes which are made available for Zac and his family.
"These homes are not owned by Zac and are trust assets. Zac does currently have non-domiciled status by virtue of his late father's domicile.
"He is, however, resident for tax purposes and has already taken the decision to relinquish his non-domicile status."
“For Lord Oakeshott to suggest that I have ‘dodged’ any tax is simply defamatory,” he said.
“My annual tax returns are all signed off by the Inland Revenue and there are no outstanding matters between us.
“His suggestion that I keep money offshore ‘free of income tax, inheritance tax and capital gains tax’ is also entirely wrong.
“Despite having been non-domiciled because of my father’s status, I have always chosen to be tax resident in the UK.
“Virtually everything I do is in the UK and therefore virtually all my income comes to the UK where I pay full tax on it.
“I do not derive any benefits as far as either capital gains tax or inheritance is concerned since I am registered for the latter in the UK.
@ golden-balls
"Are some really equating the unemployed who pay no tax due to having NO JOB and a person who has a 200 million pound fortune."
This is just the politics of jealousy. Anyway, not everyone who doesn't pay tax is unemployed. There are many who pay no tax - for a variety of perfectly legitimate reasons. Given the numbers of self-employed it's obvious that revenues decrease.
Your real concern is that Goldsmith is loaded, but how do you feel about Sainsbury? Do you have the slightest notion of how much tax he avoids paying?
Care to comment on the financial positions of Sir David Garrard, Richard Caring, Chai Patel, Rod Aldridge, Sir Christopher Evans, Nigel Morris, Andrew Rosenfeld, Barry Townsley, Gordon Crawford, Derek Tullett, Sir Gulam Noon, and Ken Follett?
How much of their 'taxable income' is located offshore?
Unsworth
"This is just the politics of jealousy"
No its not its the politics that everyone who should pay tax SHOULD PAY TAX whether it be Labour Conservative Or Liberal. No sneaky little tax loopholes no nod and a wink to your own party doners. Just pay your taxes end of ! I hope i've made that plain enough for you.
You say he hasn't done anything wrong fair enough then stick to your beliefs and still be non dom on election day.
The little cherry on top of this nice little story is that he still thinks as does DC that no one cares. How out of touch are these Tories iain included.
Kramer will be laughing away eating her oatmeal come election day.
@ golden-balls
"everyone who should pay tax SHOULD PAY TAX"
Yes, and? Depends what you mean by that, doesn't it? Should as in 'is required by law', or should as in 'is morally bound'? Those two concepts are radically different.
Nonetheless, you don't seem to have a grip on what 'should pay' really means under the current tax regime. Or do you suggest that you should be the sole arbiter? You may not like the tax system as it stands, but ain't that just too bad? It's the current law. And, after all, there are many others who use the system 'loopholes' for their own ends - such as that little list I posted earlier.
Incidentally, you might take the time to read and understand what the Sunday Times report actually says.
But I guess that next you'll propose that all non-doms be entirely disenfranchised.
I am afraid it's not reasonable for someone who avoids UK taxes, whether legally or not, to expect to have a say in how this country is run.
Ask any pensioner whose payed tax since they were 16 or any person who pays his/her tax if they share your views.
You seem to think that if its not illegal its fine and dandy. Did you take that view over MP's expenses ?
So if you had your way hardly any of them would have payed back money ?
Another Gem to note.
If zac doesn't think theres anything wrong with being non dom and a candidate let him remain so until the election and let the voters decide. The story broke and this has all changed. Why ?
regarding your little list in a previous comment i repeat whether they be Labour Conservative or Liberal PAY YOUR TAXES don't use loopholes to get around it.
btw your not an accountant are you ?
a non-dom is someone who explicitly declares that his allegiance is not to the UK (where he is living temporarily for work purposes) but to a foreign country where he intends to end his days.
It's completely inapprporiate for a non-dom to be an MP.
BTW if he says he's going to give up being a non-dom next year, then he is saying he no longer has the intention to go home. Therefore he is a non-dom immediately. :-) he probably didn't think of that.
@ golden-balls
"You seem to think that if its not illegal its fine and dandy. Did you take that view over MP's expenses ?
So if you had your way hardly any of them would have payed back money ?
Another Gem to note"
Garbage. Did I say that? But if you want to change the tax regime to something which you might regard as more equitable, bellyaching about one individual (Zac Goldsmith) in isolation is plain stupid. I've already repeatedly pointed out that others pay no tax for perfectly legitimate reasons. In any event, do you actually know what Goldsmith's tax postion is?
As to fairness, well you've got a hell of a job on your plate. Nothing is this life is truly 'fair'.
As to MPs paying back their ripped off moneys, well we've seen a few token returns, but what about such animals as Jacqui Smith etc? No, that exercise is just the usual window-dressing.
Care to offer a cogent defintion of 'loophole'? Because that is the nub of it.
" i repeat whether they be Labour Conservative or Liberal PAY YOUR TAXES don't use loopholes to get around it."
He has PAID HIS TAXES. He has just taken, as every morally upstanding person does, steps to minimise the amount he is required to pay.
@ botogol
"a non-dom is someone who explicitly declares that his allegiance is not to the UK (where he is living temporarily for work purposes) but to a foreign country where he intends to end his days."
Source? Or is this your own particular definition?
This is typical of the socialist class warfare, which I am sure everyone involved in politics had hoped had gone away since Bliar was labour leader. But, with regret it is back in fashion.
I find it strange a lot of our left wing friends moan at you sometimes for not talking about the issues, but leap on these issues when they think they can make capital out of it -well they are wrong. This is England and not America and we have a politics based around issues and not the person.
Besides which Zac does actually pay tax- everything in Britain is taxed , so you can't avoid paying tax if you live in the UK.
Also to the golden balls who said
"Ask any pensioner whose payed tax since they were 16 or any person who pays his/her tax if they share your views"
Well, Sir, I might also ask about Brown's raid on their pension schemes, which cost these same pensioners a few billions more than Zac's tax arrangements !
I worked to earn some of the £200m he inherited when Sir James Goldsmith owned Cavenham Foods.
Wages were cash limited when Lord Barber and Ted Heath were fouling up the UK economy, and people like Goldsmith were talking of buying a sub machine gun and carying a bag of kruger rands.
PAYE was in force, and had any of us had a big enough estate we would have left our relos to pay Death Duties/IHT.
How much did Goldsmith Jnr pay on his £200m?
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