The Conservatives have raised more than £18m from wealthy donors who were domiciled abroad for tax purposes, research shows. Labour have also benefited from non-dom donors and accepted gifts of at least £8.55m. The family that controls the Lib Dem’s biggest corporate donor is also domiciled abroad.
List of Tory donors who donated as non-doms:
Lord Laidlaw
The Scottish businessman and the companies he has controlled have given £6.9m to the Conservatives. The Monaco-based tycoon agreed to step down from the House of Lords in 2010 after refusing to give up his non-dom status.
Lord Ashcroft
The former party chairman gave more than £10m to the Conservative party through his companies when he was domiciled abroad for tax purposes. He gave up his advantageous tax status in 2010 so he could continue to serve in the House of Lords and has not donated since.
The pollster stepped down from the upper chamber last week but has not responded to questions asking whether he might seek to regain his non-dom status.
Zac Goldsmith
He gave the Tories £385,628 before he became an MP for the party, having inherited non-dom status from his father Sir Jimmy Goldsmith. He relinquished it prior to joining parliament. His brother Ben, also a Conservative donor, did not comment last month as to whether he had done the same.
Arpad Busson
The hedge fund executive and former partner of actor Uma Thurman and former model Elle Macpherson has claimed non-dom status through his French origin. He has given £75,000 to the Tories.
Richard Caring
The owner of the Ivy restaurant and a former Labour backer who switched to give £353,200 to the Tories under Cameron claims non-dom status despite being born in the UK. He gained his eligibility thanks to his American GI father.
Sir Anwar Pervez
The Bestway chair is domiciled abroad because of his Pakistani roots. He has given £524,000 to the Tories.
Goldsmith, Busson, Caring and Pervez were all among a group of Conservative donors named last month as holding offshore accounts with HSBC Switzerland. There is no suggestion any engaged in any illegal activity in connection with their banking activities.
One Conservative donor who is domiciled abroad for tax purposes said on Wednesday he would stay in Britain and pay money on his worldwide income if Labour closed the non-dom loophole.
Moni Varma, head of the rice firm Veetee Rice, who has switched allegiance from Labour to the Conservatives, said the proposals may prompt some wealthy businesspeople to take flight – but that he would remain in the UK.
“One of the charms of London was that you could base yourself here and do global business. This proposal from Labour will force some to leave. But I will be staying here and paying taxes on my worldwide income in the UK,” he said.
List of Labour donors who gave as non-doms:
Lakshmi Mittal
Britain’s second richest man according to the Sunday Times, the steel tycoon gave more than £5m to Labour up to April 2010. He is domiciled abroad for tax purposes, his office said. He declined to comment on Labour’s new proposals.
Lord Noon
Nicknamed the Curry King, the Bombay-born businessman has given nearly £1m to Labour, but gave up his non-dom status when he joined the House of Lords in 2011. He said he would continue to pay all of his taxes in the UK, whichever party wins the general election.
Sir Ronald Cohen
The Egyptian-born businessman gave £2.55m in donations to Labour. Cohen was appointed chair of the Social Investment Taskforce, which was announced by the then chancellor, Gordon Brown.
Lib Dem donors who gave as a non-doms:
Sudhir and Banu Choudhrie
Along with their family company, C&C Alpha group, the Indian-born businessmen involved in import-export and care homes have given more than £800,000 to the Liberal Democrats. A spokesman for both Sudhir and Banu has previously told the Guardian that they are domiciled abroad for tax purposes.
