Continued .....
So, how about the very public individuals with less than public tax arrangements?
Well, let's start with Tony Blair, that well known multimillionaire 'socialist' (Socialist my arse!). In 2011, his company (or one of them), Windrush Ventures declared an income of something around £12 Million. In their accounts, they listed all the usual expenses such as rents, salaries etc. along with £8 Million "administrative expenses".
The net profit then was just over £1 Million and tax was paid on this at £315,000. Nobody (as far as I can discover) has been able to explain these "administrative costs". If they had been included in the profits, the tax bill would have been an awful lot higher.
Now; pay attention, this could get tedious: Mr Blair is involved in (owns, perhaps?) a series of companies, chief among which appears to be Windrush Ventures No 3 LP. "LP" means Limited Partnership. Limited Partnerships are not required to publish their accounts.
Still with me? Good!
Windrush Ventures No 3 LP is linked to Windrush Ventures No 2 LP and BDBCO no 819 who in turn are linked to BDBCO No 822. Both of these companies are listed as Dormant so let's ignore them for now.
Windrush Ventures No 2 LP is yet another Limited Partnership so forget about any public accounts there!
Next in the chain are Windrush Ventures Ltd and Windrush Ventures No 1 Ltd.
Would you believe it? Windrush Ventures is trading under the name "The Office of Tony Blair". Now I could link this to the relevant website but it is stated on the Terms & Conditions page of that website that I can include links to the site only with their (his?) permission. So bugger them! Just Google the name.
Windrush, in their 2011 accounts, say they are paying £500,000 rent for their premises in Grosvenor Square. I'll bet you a quid you can't figure out who is the owner of that property., Doh! You got me! Of course it is Tony Blair. His own company is paying him to rent his own premises. (Mind you, I did see evidence a couple of years ago that David Cameron was doing the same with his house. Probably the whole rotten crew are doing something similar).
Oh hang on; there's another company named Firerush Ventures. No prizes for guessing who owns that lot (ACL Blair) and how the company fits into a structure including Firerush Ventures No 2 LP and Firerush Ventures No 1 LP.
If you are still awake, the whole saga can be summed up"What a complex web, allegedly set up to manage Mr Blair's charitable affairs"!
Let's go to Part 3 ...
3 comments:
“Blair’s spokesman said: “Across all of his activities there are more than 120 people employed around the world. The Windrush accounts are prepared in accordance with relevant legal, accounting and regulatory guidance. Tony Blair continues to be a UK taxpayer on all of his income and all his companies are UK registered.””
I don’t think this is true, and here’s why not.
As is now well known, Blair runs two exactly parallel Windrush and
Firerush structures, with their associated Bisham shell companies. In
the course of looking at their internet presence, and that of other
fascinated observers, I noticed:
1. Everyone agrees that he’s up to something other than simply seeking
privacy, as he claims to be. The man is a media whore; privacy is the
last thing on his mind.
2. The general feeling is that he’s offshore, although he denies it,
and claims to be paying 50% tax on his income.
3. He (Firerush and Windrush No3 LP -or TB Associates and Office of TB- is registered to trade throughout the EU and in at least some of those countries is registered as a UK company without a local office.
4. Everybody’s missed – as far as I can see – two companies. They are
Windrush Ltd (104738) and Firerush Ltd (104737),(NOT Windrush and Firerush Ventures Ltd which are UK companies) simultaneously registered in
Gibraltar on 23 Sept 2010.
While Windrush is a fairly common company name, with associations with
both Oxford and the Caribbean, Firerush isn’t. All the other instances
I have seen are Blair companies. And the coincidence is an interesting
one. Gibraltar has a 10% flat corporate tax rate applying to
registrations after 25th June 2009.
Also, since Windrush handles the charity side of Blair’s income, its opacity is intriguing….
Oh, and DON'T "forget" the BDB companies. They're essential. Particularly if he needs a nominee company to handle offshore activities. BDB 819 and BDB822 relate to Windrush (Office of Tony Blair). The parallel structure of Firerush contains BDB 853, and I am still looking for the other one. Also directed by nominees.
The other Bircham Dyson Bell nominee company associated with Firerush is BDBCO No. 850 Ltd. The listed directors are BDB staff.
May I repeat: Anyone with an entry to Gibraltar Companies House ( I don't have this) is earnestly requested to take a look at Windrush and Firerush Ltd, no's 104738 and 104737, registered 23 Sept 2010.
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