Lord Sugar on tax avoidance schemes backlash: 'It is a joke'
They like to enjoy all those privileges but not pay for them and I think that’s wrong
Lord Alan Sugar has spoken out on the tax avoidance schemes backlash, saying he thinks the rich and famous have received 'bad advice' which will 'come back to bite them on the nose'.
Speaking in response to the 'Paradise Papers' documents, which has seen various celebrities named as securing tax-free riches abroad, Lord Sugar told today’s Good Morning Britain: “The problem is very simple, they’re legal because our laws enable them to be legal. If we change our laws they will no longer be legal. They are just schemes to avoid paying taxes. Particularly corporations.”
He added: “I think the thing is that some people are good at what they do, they’re singers or they’re artists, or they’re sports people and they do rely upon advisors. I would just say, bad advice really. You might argue, how can it be bad advice if I earn £100 and I only pay £1 tax, that can’t be bad advice.
"But at the end of the day it comes back and bites them on the nose. If they’re British people, do they want to have the reputation of not paying taxes in the proper way as every other normal person does or not? From my point of view, I’m English, I pay my tax, end of story. Wipe your nose, or wipe your face and get on with it.”
Asked if those using the schemes are greedy, he said: “It’s in some people’s nature. If they earn £100 they want to keep it all. The don’t realise they live in a country that has a police force, a National Health Service, an army that protects them and all the good things we get here. A wonderful NHS I might add. They like to enjoy all those privileges but not pay for them and I think that’s wrong.”
Related links: