Tory peer Lord Ashcroft estimated to have saved £127m in tax says Huhne

9.10.37pm GMT Wed 3rd Mar 2010

Lord Ashcroft avoided UK taxes despite assurances given when he was made a peer

Lord Ashcroft is estimated to have saved more than £127m in British tax since he became a member of the House of Lords, according to Liberal Democrat research.

Lord Ashcroft's annual tax saving is conservatively estimated to be £12.76m and he has been a member of the House of Lords for a decade.

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Huhne said:

"Anyone who wants to pass laws in this country should pay this country's full taxes and not hide behind the special offshore status of non-doms.

"Non-doms have to tell the taxman that their first allegiance is to another country. No-one should be a British lawmaker whose first allegiance is not to Britain.

"On even the most conservative estimates, Lord Ashcroft has avoided vast amounts of British tax by deploying the non-dom tax dodge. If he challenges our estimate of how much tax he has dodged, then there is a simple solution: publish the figure."

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