Tory candidate for Solihull under fire over book on tax avoidance
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Version 0 of 1. The Conservative party’s candidate in the key target seat of Solihull has come under criticism for a book he authored that gives advice on hiding your money from the “prowling tax collector”. Julian Knight, a former personal finance journalist, is fighting to take the seat from Liberal Democrat Lorely Burt, who won by 175 votes (0.3%) in 2010. In his 2004 book Wills, Probate and Inheritance Tax for Dummies, Knight schools readers in how to avoid the “snapping jaws of the tax system”. “IHT [Inheritance Tax] is the looming iceberg on the horizon for your estate, and you need to plot a course to steer well clear of it,” he writes. In a section of his book called “Fleeing the country to avoid IHT”, Knight writes that: “From an IHT avoidance point of view, you might find it pays to leave dear old Blighty.” “If you live in the UK, IHT is levied on your worldwide assets, but if you live abroad, it’s levied just on your UK assets. So if you have large assets abroad, you can move to sunnier climes later in life to protect those assets from the UK tax system.” Knight also recommends using a deed of variation, a way of changing a person’s will after they die, often used to reduce inheritance tax payments. The Labour leader, Ed Miliband, was recently criticised by the Conservative party for condemning tax avoidance despite having been handed a share of his parents’ home in North London using a deed of variation. The chancellor, George Osborne, announced a consultation on the use of such deeds in this year’s budget. Related: George Osborne's budget jibes: what came first – the policy or the joke? The chief secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander, said voters in Solihull would be “deeply unimpressed” that the Tories have put forward a candidate who has “written books telling people how to dodge tax”. “Most people want everyone to pay their taxes, not pay for books telling them how not to,” he said. The Conservative party came under scrutiny when a string of high-profile donors were named in the leaked HSBC files that listed people the bank had helped to avoid tax. In 2012, Osborne described aggressive avoidance as “morally repugnant”. Knight denied that his book in any way contradicted his party’s message on tax. “In my book I set out ways hardworking parents can pass on the graft of a lifetime to their sons, daughters and grandchildren,” he said. “This is wholly different to what George Osborne talks about when he refers to the aggressive tax avoidance of some multinational corporations. “I’ve made my career as a journalist offering advice to normal families on how to get the best deal they can from what life throws at them. Seeing the challenges they face daily was what inspired me to enter politics and stand as prospective Conservative MP in Solihull. I want to help deliver a strong Conservative government which will offer even more support to people who work hard through their lives and want to pass that on to their kids.” Burt, who is fighting Knight to retain her seat, said the mask has slipped and that “the Tories are showing their true face on the issue of tax avoidance”. She said: “Behind the scenes, the Lib Dems had to drag our coalition partners kicking and screaming to tackle tax avoidance – my Conservative opponent has just shown how his party really feels about it. “While the Tories are literally saying, ‘Boo, hiss’ to closing tax loopholes, ordinary people in Solihull are glad to see multimillionaire bankers paying their share. This just shows what a majority Conservative government would be like – one rule for them and another for the rest of us.” Related: George Osborne denies advising tax avoidance on 2003 TV show In his book Knight also sets out a way of avoiding inheritance tax while still getting free local authority nursing home care – something Osborne was recorded advocating in a 2003 broadcast of the Daily Politics. “The one piece of advice I would give to Bill [a viewer] is that there are some pretty clever financial products that enable you in effect to pass on your home, or the value of your home, to your son or daughter and then get personal care paid for by the state,” Osborne said. “I probably shouldn’t be advocating this on television.” The chancellor tried to suggest he had not been advocating tax avoidance when he was asked about the incident from a decade ago in his post-budget interview on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “I was pointing out that under the Labour government there were all sorts of loopholes that helped people evade and avoid their taxes. When I had the chance to actually do something about it in government, I’ve shut down those loopholes. People can judge me by my record,” he said. Earlier this month David Cameron announced that if the Conservatives win on 7 May, the party would take family homes out of inheritance tax by introducing a new allowance effectively increasing the threshold to £1m. Under Tory plans, parents will each be offered a new £175,000 allowance to enable them to pass property on to children tax-free after their death. The new family home allowance will be transferable on the death of one spouse and can be added to the existing £325,000 transferable allowance to bring the tax-free total up to £1m. Related: Tories pledge to take family homes out of inheritance tax For properties worth more than £2m, the allowance will be gradually tapered away, so that those with homes worth more than £2.35m do not benefit at all. Some 22,000 families are expected to benefit by 2020 from the pledge, which will be paid for by a £1bn raid on pension tax relief for people earning more than £150,000. Another of Knight’s books, The British Citizenship test for Dummies, promises to provide “all the official material required to ace the latest government test”. In the introduction he writes: “Becoming a British citizen means enjoying full voting rights and access to all sorts of benefits.” Knight’s book includes sections called “Getting your hands on a British passport” and “Reaping the rewards of citizenship”. |