Lord Sugar: Do I pay my taxes? Just look at this £58m cheque
LORD Sugar yesterday hit back at critics who have accused him of not backing Jeremy Corbyn because he wants to avoid paying tax – by publishing his £58million tax bill.
In a post which was later deleted, the self- made billionaire and former Labour donor revealed a cheque for £58,646,028.44 to HM Revenue and Customs.
In a caption, he wrote alongside it: ‘To the people who have responded to my advice not to vote for Corbyn saying I want to avoid paying tax. I paid this personally in January.’
The businessman turned television star incurred the wrath of Mr Corbyn’s supporters after he branded the Labour leader ‘utterly useless’ at the weekend.
In an interview with the Mail on Sunday, he said: ‘I cannot bring myself even to think about him as Prime Minister.’ His comments were quickly seized upon by fans of the leader, who claimed Lord Sugar was just running scared of having to pay more to the taxman.
But in an attempt to silence his critics he posted a picture of the cheque he paid the taxman this year.
He had earlier urged his millions of followers not to vote for Mr Corbyn when they go to the polls today.
In a tweet he wrote: ‘If you admire or trust me, a east end boy done good by honest graft, for the good of the UK I sincerely advise NOT to vote for Corbyn #TRUSTME.’ The Apprentice star was once one of Labour’s biggest donors and most prominent supporters. He was made a peer in 2009 and served as Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s enterprise tsar.
But he quit the Labour Party over its ‘ negative’ stance towards business.
He has claimed that ‘the lunatics have taken over the asylum’ under Mr Corbyn’s leadership.
In May he revealed that he was backing the Conservatives in the General Election after declaring ‘I’d vote for her’ about Theresa May.
The business mogul also supported Mrs May’s decision not to take part in a live head-to-head TV debate.
He said: ‘Mrs May is 100 per cent right not to get sucked into a head-to-head slanging match on TV.’
Lord Sugar has accused Mr Corbyn and his allies of thinking that entrepreneurs are ‘demons’. He told the Mail on Sunday this week: ‘You need entrepreneurs to build the economy of the country.
‘But Corbyn’s lot view the Alan Sugars of this world as some kind of demons. They think there should not be people like me or Richard Branson in the world. Their view is like communism.’
‘Utterly useless’