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Tory donor Lord Fink admits 'vanilla' tax avoidance but says it's ok because 'everyone does it at some level' Tory donor Lord Fink admits 'vanilla' tax avoidance but says it's ok because 'everyone does it at some level'
(about 1 hour later)
The Conservative Party donor Lord Fink has admitted he engages in “vanilla” tax avoidance but defended it by saying “everyone does tax avoidance at some level”. Lord Fink, the former Conservative treasurer, has conceded that he had taken “vanilla, bland” steps to reduce his tax bill, adding that “everyone” is involved in tax avoidance.
The peer and former Tory treasurer backed down from suggesting he was going to sue the Labour leader Ed Miliband over allegations of tax avoidance – claims Mr Miliband repeated during an appearance at a school in London today. His admission came after he threatened Ed Miliband with legal action if he repeated a claim that the Tory peer and major party donor had been involved in “tax avoidance activities”.
In an interview with the Evening Standard, Lord Fink said it was the suggestion his bank account was “dodgy” that he objected to – but added that he “doesn’t even want to sue Ed Miliband”. The Labour leader went on to describe David Cameron as “a dodgy Prime Minister surrounded by dodgy donors”.
“I also took exception to him saying I had questions to answer,” he said. “In fact, whenever anyone has put questions to me I have answered them.” Lord Fink said his tax planning had been at the “vanilla” or “mild” end of the spectrum and he had rejected advice to take more “aggressive” action to cut his tax bill.
The peer said he had rejected expert advice that he could save a fortune by adopting “aggressive” avoidance measures, but added: “I chose the mildest end of the spectrum that I was advised on. What I did ... was at the vanilla, bland, end of the spectrum. “I chose the mildest end of the spectrum that I was advised on,” he told the Evening Standard. “What I did… was at the vanilla, bland, end of the spectrum.”
“The expression tax avoidance is so wide that everyone does tax avoidance at some level,” he added. Lord Fink said: “I didn’t object to his use of the word ‘tax avoidance’. Because you are right: tax avoidance, everyone does it.”
Lord Fink was among nine Conservative donors listed as clients of HSBC's Swiss subsidiary in leaked files published by The Guardian ahead of Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday. The newspaper said the accounts were held legally for a wide variety of reasons, and made no allegation of wrongdoing against those listed. He said: “I don’t even want to sue Ed Miliband... If he simply uses the words ‘Lord Fink did ordinary tax avoidance’ then, no, I couldn’t sue him.
During a rowdy Prime Minister's Questions session, Mr Miliband branded Mr Cameron a “dodgy Prime Minister surrounded by dodgy donors” who was “up to his neck” in the HSBC tax avoidance scandal. “But if he made the statement ‘dodgy’ about my bank account, that was potentially libellous. That was the issue I took exception to.”
Responding today, Mr Miliband said: “Yesterday a Conservative donor challenged me to stand by what I said in the House of Commons. I do.
"And believe it or not, now today he confirmed it as well. He has just said, and I quote ‘I didn’t object to his use of the word tax avoidance, because tax avoidance – everyone does it’.
David Cameron must explain why he appointed a treasurer of the Conservative Party who boasts about engaging in tax avoidance and thinks it is something that everyone does.”
However, the Labour leader stopped short of repeating his Commons barb, which was protected from by parliamentary privilege, that Mr Cameron was “surrounded by dodgy donors”.
Lord Fink reacted: “Yesterday I challenged Ed Miliband to repeat the accusations he made in the Commons - that I used an HSBC bank account to avoid tax and that I was a ‘dodgy donor’. He did not.
“This is a major climbdown by a man who is willing to smear without getting his facts straight.”