Bernie Ecclestone set to pay record £1BILLION tax bill after 20-year fight with HMRC
BERNIE Ecclestone is on the brink of settling on a record £1billion tax demand.
The ex-F1 supremo has been battling HMRC for more than 20 years over money earned on his £2.5billion empire.
Bernie, 88, has always denied owing up to £1billion. There is no suggestion he has broken tax laws.
A source said: “This would be a ground-breaking victory for HMRC and would be the biggest individual tax recoup in UK recorded history.
“There’s been a number of offers made, and failed suggestions on how to settle the bill. But finally an arrangement seems to have been made.”
It is usual for this type of settlement to be agreed without liability. The money would go to the public purse.
The previous biggest was £130million from Google in 2016.
Last year we told how Bernie had been quizzed by taxmen at a London police station in 2017.
HMRC has raised £3billion since starting a new crackdown on offshore income in 2010.
It has been focusing on the Bambino trust set up by Bernie’s ex-wife Slavica in 1997 and based in Liechtenstein.
‘EXCEPTIONAL SETTLEMENT’
The trust is believed to have raised £3billion from selling stakes in F1.
Slavica, 61, and daughters Tamara, 35, and Petra, 30, are beneficiaries.
When Bernie had a triple heart bypass in 1999, Slavica transferred the share capital of F1’s parent company to Jersey-based Petara, in case he died.
She then put the shares in the Bambino trust and, as it is offshore, no tax has been paid on money raised.
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As a UK resident Bernie is not allowed to control the trust otherwise he would have to pay tax on it.
In 2008 HMRC ruled he had not breached anti-avoidance rules.
Tax expert Jim Lee, of James Lee Associates, said a settlement this size would be “exceptional”. HMRC declined to comment.
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