“Dodgy Dave” as he was referred to by Dennis Skinner in the parliament recently has been in the eye of the limelight for his father’s Panama-based UK tax avoidance fund.
Details of this fund were revealed in the Panama Papers leak and David Cameron has since then accepted that he benefitted from the sale of these funds before he entered office.
According to the Guardian newspaper, Cameron and his wife Samantha held shares in this offshore fund during his time as the opposition leader.
He sold the funds for a profit of £19,000 and income tax was paid but no capital gains tax was payable.
Mr. Cameron has been less than upfront about the state of the £300,000 that he inherited from his father and if any of this money he had gained was taxed due to it being based in a unit trust in Jersey, a known tax haven.
Mr. Cameron told the Guardian that, “I obviously can’t point to the source of every bit of money and dad’s not around for me to ask the questions now.”
Cameron as a new fintech poster boy
Conveniently for Mr. Cameron, it seems he has forgotten or has a case of selective amnesia. However, we can all take heart from the fact that David is now on our side and is a happy new endorser of the Fintech industry.
In a video released by Innovate Finance on YouTube, the British Prime Minister goes on and on about how Fintech is the new salvation for Britain and how Britain is THE place for the industry.
It is a pity though that the Camerons don’t seem to like Britain when it comes to keeping their own money. It would surely help him to park his funds right at home because the Huffington Post reports that 44% of the people believe that Mr. Cameron’s way of dealing with his financial affairs is “morally repugnant”. In fact so low is David’s popularity at the moment that only about 12% of voters would even consider having a meal with him, according to the same article.
Our advice: use fintech, don’t just mouth the words
Mr. Cameron, you could have avoided all the hot water that you find yourself in if you would have simply used some of the advice you are giving to others.
Keep your money right in Britain by using the Fintech that exist today. Here is how you can invest in Bitcoin in the UK for example. Also while you read the article, you might want to do something about making it easier for people in the UK to use the latest in Fintech by getting banks not to be so Bitcoin averse. I mean people being punished by British banks for trading Bitcoin isn’t encouraging Fintech now is it? Oh and remember in 2014 when your own Chancellor George Osborne was exploring ways the UK could capitalise on virtual currency opportunities? (Yes we are talking of the same George Osborne who called tax evasion “morally repugnant” and evaded questions after the Panama papers broke on his own financial affairs?)
It would be nice if you would actually get him to act in the best interests of the Fintech sector and not just create opportunities for making money out of Bitcoin surveillance.