U.K. tax dodge axed

Press, 18 March 1988, Page 10

U.K. tax dodge axed

By

TONY VERDON

in London The New Zealand-born pop star, Alannah Currie, is among a big group of celebrities hit by this week’s British Budget.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr Lawson, ended tax relief on hundreds of I thousands of pounds the stars ploughed into forest tracts throughout Britain. The move ended what had been described as a “plant a j forest” tax wheeze.

Wealthy celebrities such as Alannah Currie, of the pop group, The Thompson > Twins, were able to claim tax deductions on money invested in forestry.

Alannah Currie and her fellow Thompson Twins member, Tom Bailey, are believed to have ploughed cash into an 889-acre farm in south-west Scotland. Other celebrities such as the television chat show host, Terry Wogan, the singer, Cliff Richard, the snooker ace, Alex Higgins, and the golfer, Nick Faldo, also invested heavily in forestry.

The tax relief was introduced in 1981 to encourage farmers to plant trees to protect buildings and give shelter to their livestock.

But many quickly realised that the plan offered a way of turning taxable income into tax-free income.

They bought vast, regions, mainly in the Scottish Highlands, to plant with conifers.

I They collected £lOO I ($260), from the Forestry Commission for every acre planted, and virtually every penny spent on running the plantations qualified for tax relief. They also picked up the profits from the sale of timber, and could always sell their forests for a taxfree profit. Terry Wogan reportedly gained about £250,000 ($650,000), a year through the tax loophole. Last English summer Cliff Richard sold 2677 acres of forest in Wales for almost £1 million ($2.6 million), on top of the £660,000, ($1.7 million), he is thought to have received in grants and tax relief.