Billboard campaign to target avoiders and evaders of tax

BRITISH CAMPAIGNERS seeking action against tax avoiders andevaders are planning a major billboard campaign after severalConservative-leaning newspapers refused to carry full-pageadvertisements from them yesterday.

Using an image of chancellor George Osborne, who is described as"The Artful Dodger", the 38 Degrees campaign group claimedpound(s)120 billion in tax revenue is being lost every year in theUK to dodging and avoidance.

The advertisements, which allege Mr Osborne himself avoidedpound(s)1.6 million worth of inheritance taxes on money receivedfrom his father by using off-shore trusts, were published in theGuardian, the Independentand the Independent's 20-page publication,the i.

However, the Daily Telegraphrefused to publish the advertisementwhen it finally saw the text, while the Daily Mail"upped its quotehugely, despite having agreed prices", 38 Degrees spokesman DavidBabbs toldThe Irish Times.

The Metrofree-sheet said it had stopped plans to publish because"Conservative HQ are on the attack over the 'tax dodger' claims",said its spokesman.

"Obviously we don't want to run anything that could be viewed aslibellous."

The action by 38 Degrees comes on foot of protests by UK Uncut,an internet campaign group which has targeted shops owned bybillionaire Philip Green's Arcadia group to highlight a tax-freepound(s)1.2 billion dividends payment made to his Monaco-based wife.

Treasury minister Justine Greening was faced with a copy of oneof the adverts when she appeared on Sky News yesterday morning and38 Degrees is seeking donations for a national billboard campaign incoming weeks.

"It shows that our tax-dodging campaign is touching a raw nerve,and that those papers most supportive of the Conservative-ledgovernment are willing to exercise editorial control even overadvertising," said Mr Babbs.

Last October, Channel 4's Dispatchesprogramme reported pound(s)4million of Mr Osborne's father's fortune will pass to him withoutfacing inheritance taxes through the legal use of trust funds.

Mr Osborne has accepted that the trust funds have been used inthis way.

"You would hope that the chancellor would be talking to taxlawyers to find out ways of closing down tax loopholes, rather thanusing them himself for his own benefit - even if it is legal," saidMr Babbs.

The controversy erupted on the day when VAT rates in the UK roseto 20 per cent, a move that will generate pound(s)13 billion inextra taxes, but which many opponents argue will discriminateagainst the poor.