HSBC boss in tax probe over claims he lives in Far East
THE taxman is investigating the boss of HSBC.
Stuart Gulliver says Hong Kong is his main home – allowing him offshore tax relief in return for up to a £90,000 fee.
However the £8million-a-year banker has been living in London ever since his return from the Far East in 2003. HM Revenue & Customs is now probing whether his status as a ‘non-domicile’ is legitimate.
Court documents show that its inspectors are also examining Mr Gulliver’s personal and professional affairs dating back to 1981, a year after he joined HSBC in Hong Kong.
The inquiry – which extends to 123 questions and requests for dozens of documents – came to light after a judge rejected an attempt by Mr Gulliver’s lawyers to have it blocked. The published court ruling shows he refused to hand over most of the information requested by HMRC. Mr Gulliver’s lawyers claimed HMRC was legally obliged to stick with its decision to grant him nondom status in 2003. They also provided evidence that he maintains a residence in Hong Kong and plans to return there.
But the appeal was thrown out by a tribunal at the Royal Courts of Justice. Judge Jonathan Richards stressed that ‘ HMRC have not alleged any impropriety on Mr Gulliver’s part’ and that ‘ their enquiry is limited to the factual question of whether he was domiciled in the UK’.
But experts argued the sums must be significant given that the banker, who spends most of the year at his family home in London, was prepared to spend so much on the case.
A crackdown on non-doms – announced by former chancellor George Osborne in the summer budget of 2015 – comes into force next month.
The status will be taken away from those who have
‘Must have saved a fortune’
lived in the UK for more than 15 of the past 20 years.
Richard Murphy, a tax campaigner and professor at City University, London, said: ‘Mr Gulliver’s claims of non-dom status are looking threadbare.
‘He must have saved a fortune in tax if he thinks it is worth paying for non-dom status and spending all this money to go to court.’
HSBC is trying to rebuild its reputation after a string of scandals. Two years ago leaked documents showed that its Swiss unit allegedly helped tax evaders, criminals and drug cartels hide money offshore.
Mr Gulliver was drawn into the scandal after it emerged he parked around £5million in bonuses at the division through a Panama firm.
An HSBC spokesman said: ‘The hearing in question was an application for court guidance on a technical matter, being the effect of a tax ruling made at the time Mr Gulliver was posted to London in 2003.’ HMRC has declined to comment.