Hamilton’s Manx link

Lewis Hamilton was last night accused of avoiding taxes by renting his private jet back to himself.

The so-called Paradise Papers shows him receiving a £3.3m VAT refund when he imported his £16.5m red Bombardier into England through the Isle of Man. The jet was bought by his British Virgin Islands company and leased to an Isle of Man firm set up by Appleby which then leased it to a UK jet charter company that then leased it to Hamilton, the papers show.

There is no suggestion Hamilton was directly involved. The Formula 1 champion told the BBC that when he inquired, a tax barrister had told him it was lawful. The Isle of Man has reviewed its VAT schemes and found no evidence of wrongdoing but has asked the UK Treasury to investigate.