What he may not have realised as he announced a charge on such properties was that Samantha Cameron’s stepfather could be among those affected by the proposed tax.
Viscount Astor, who is married to Mrs Cameron’s mother Annabel, has a home on the 19,500-acre Tarbert estate on the island of Jura, off the west coast of Scotland, which is owned by a company registered in the Bahamas.
The estate is a favourite holiday location for the Prime Minister and his wife, who last visited it three years ago.
If as and when the estate changes hands this would indeed mean that stamp duty was avoided.
The estate was bought by William Waldorf Astor in the 1920s
Hmm, rather unlikely that any stamp duty has been avoided, isn\’t it?
Not as if there have been a lot of transactions….
Permit me to add a bit of Scottish context.
If this estate were to be sold, it would HAVE to be moved into the new (well, since 1979) map-based land registry.
The cost of doing so would be astronomical. Probably 10 years of legal work to prepare the case and unravel the deeds of servitude.
Wrapping the whole thing in a company is the only realistic way actually to make the sale at all.
(but registering the company in the Bahamas is a bit over the top I grant you)
The estate is a favourite holiday location for the Prime Minister and his wife, who last visited it three years ago.
Such a favourite that they haven’t been there in three years. Not quite popping round the gaff every other weekend, is it.