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The other people connected to David Cameron who are linked to tax avoidance

The other people connected to David Cameron who are linked to tax avoidance

The full repercussions of this week's Panama Papers leak revealing how the rich and powerful hide their money are still being felt across the world.

More than half of the 300,000 clients named in the huge document cache from secretive law firm Mossack Fonseca are British, raising questions about the UK's role as vital in propping up the offshore banking system used by many for the purposes of tax avoidance. There is no suggestion of any wrong doing on the part of the individuals concerned.

David Cameron's father Ian, who used Mossack Fonseca’s services to incorporate and shield an investment fund in the tax haven of Bermuda, six Conservative peers, three former MPs and several Tory donors are linked to tax haven networks, the investigation alleges.

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) investigation - and Cameron's own admission that he profited from his father's investment fund - comes as an embarrassment to a prime minister who has been vocal about the need to crack down on tax avoidance, and is due to host a major summit on offshore tax havens next month.

Unfortunately for Cameron, his father is not the only person named in the Panama Papers he is linked to - and several others in his inner circle have, in separate circumstances, been criticised for their tax arrangements:

Ian Cameron

Picture: Nick Green/Press Association

The Guardian first reported in 2012 that Cameron's father had built up the family's fortune in a "network of offshore investment funds". Though entirely legal, the funds based in Panama City and Geneva were reported to have boasted of their ability to skirt UK tax jurisdiction.

The Panama Papers leak reveal that Cameron's company 'Blairemore' never paid a penny of UK tax.

Samantha Cameron

Picture: Leon Neal - WPA Pool/Getty Images

Last year details have emerged that the company Samantha Cameron works for is based in a tax haven.

Smythson - a luxury leather goods retailer with a Royal Warrant from the Queen - is owned through a parent company in Luxembourg and connected to a trust in Guernsey.

Mrs Cameron worked as a creative director for the company before husband David entered office and has since worked for them in a part-time consultancy role.

Lord Michael Ashcroft

Picture: Oli Scarff/Getty Images

While they may not be that close anymore, a rift fossilised by the publication of Ashcroft's unofficial biography of the PM, 'Call Me Dave', last year, the former MP has donated hundreds of thousands of pounds to the Conservative party under Cameron over the years.

The Panama Papers investigation alleges that Belize Corporation Services, which has been linked to Ashcroft's company BCB Holdings in the past, began using Mossack Fonseca to provide shell corporations for Belize Corporation Services' clients in 2006, when Ashcroft was in the House of Lords.

Ashcroft has denied any involvement with Mossack Fonseca whatsoever and said that he does not own Belize Corporation Services.

Eric Schmidt, executive chair of Google

The Treasury struck a £130m settlement deal with Google in January which chancellor George Osborne called a "major success," but was widely condemned by campaign groups and opposition MPs as being nowhere near enough to make up for lost back taxes the tech giant could - and should - be paying.

In 2013, Google's executive chair Eric Schmidt met Cameron at Downing Street as part of the Business Advisory Group – a small group of elite business advisers – shortly after a Commons committee criticised the tech giant for its tax affairs.

It is alleged that the prime minister failed to confront Schmidt on the company’s tax dealings - paying a reported £6m in tax despite profits of £2.6bn - and Schmidt then appeared to leave by a back door to avoid photographers.

Joanna Shields, Tory peer and former senior executive at Google and Facebook

(Picture: Matt Prince/Creative Commons)

A former senior executive of Google and Facebook, both criticised for tax avoidance in the UK, Joanna Shields was given a peerage by the Conservatives last year and also appointed as the UK's ambassador for digital industries by Cameron.

Shields appeared to defend the tax arrangements of the tech giants, saying in October 2012: "What’s missing from the story is why people do it. The reason those companies make those decisions is because of the investment environment and the tax environment."

Facebook paid less than £5,000 in UK corporate tax last year.

Sir Stuart Rose, former chair of Marks & Spencer

Sir Stuart Rose, the former chairman of Marks & Spencer, was criticised by Labour last year after he accused the party of "anti-business policies" in light of its row with Boots - whose owner is based in Monaco.

Chuka Umunna, then shadow business secretary, hit back by pointing out that Lord Rose was made a Tory peer by Cameron, and therefore his comments were clearly not impartial.

Rose stood down as chairman of Marks & Spencer in 2010. The company was the target of protests over accusations it pays too little tax in 2010, and in 2013 criticised for tax arrangements it used for its online sales in Europe.

Marks & Spencer has insisted it pays UK corporation tax on all profits generated by UK sales and comply with the tax laws of all jurisdictions in which it operates.

Charles Dunstone, Chair of Carphone Warehouse

Picture: MJ Kim/Getty Images

Dunstone is the founder and owner of Carphone Warehouse and regarded as part of the Chipping Norton set.

Carphone Warehouse came bottom of a Fair Tax Campaign league table (£) in 2013 which ranked 25 High Street chains based on their tax disclosures, whether they paid an "acceptable" rate of tax and whether they used tax havens.

The company disputed the campaign’s figures and methodology, claiming it pays all appropriate taxes and that the study "bears no resemblance to reality".

Sir Philip Green's family tax affairs

Picture: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images

In 2005, Arcadia - the parent company of Topshop - paid a legal £1.2bn dividend to Sir Philip’s Monaco based wife, Tina. Sir Philip, the chairman of the company, is based in the UK. The company is ultimately owned by Tina.

Sir Philip has said: “My wife’s not a tax exile – my family do not live in the United Kingdom, it’s somewhat different. I’m a UK taxpayer, I work here every week, we employ 45,000 people in the UK and we have got a £500 million payroll. Responding to questioning over the deal, Green said: "We run this business 100 per cent correctly. We run it better than a public company. We know people are watching."

In 2012, Sir Philip was appointed by Cameron to lead a review into government spending.

Gary Barlow

The prime minister was left red-faced after Gary Barlow and two of his Take That bandmates Mark Owen and Howard Donald, as well as manager Jonathan Wild, were found to have invested in a tax avoidance scheme in 2014.

Barlow had previously joined Cameron on the campaign trail in the build-up to the 2010 general election as the face of a national campaign to get more music into schools.

Cameron had initially refused to comment on the Conservative supporter's tax arrangements despite criticising comedian Jimmy Carr - not a Tory campaigner - who was found to be involved in a different tax avoidance scheme. Cameron subsequently re-iterated his opposition to all “aggressive tax avoidance".

More: A reminder that HMRC actually rents its offices from a company registered in a tax haven

More: This piggy bank analogy perfectly explains why the Panama Papers are so important

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