Former MP and ex London Mayor, Ken Livingstone, has hit out at recent allegations that he was avoiding tax by setting up his own personal company, claiming that he was the victim of a “smear campaign”.
Appearing on the BBC's 'Andrew Marr Show', Mr Livingstone dismissed any suggestion of tax avoidance on the grounds that he employed a number of people and received income from differing sources. He said, “I am not off-shore. I am running a small company, just like hundreds of thousands of people.”
As previously reported in Contractor Weekly, the well known socialist appears guilty of only arranging his tax affairs as efficiently as possible and within the legal boundaries. Having campaigned against tax avoidance in the past, however, he cannot be too surprised that there are plenty of his opponents out there who would want to take a pop at him at the slightest whiff of double standards.
The recent media hysteria regarding high profile use of personal service companies does, however, need to be tempered but, as we know, the full truth does not always make sensational reading.
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