Prince of Wales defends tax status

[No Elephants]

(CNN) -- Prince of Wales defends tax status
By Vanessa Houlder, FT.com
updated 11:48 PM EST, Sat December 15, 2012



Clarence House has defended the Prince of Wales' financial arrangements after antimonarchy campaigners accused the Duchy of Cornwall of using "a highly questionable interpretation" of its legal status to avoid corporation tax.

Republic, which campaigns for an elected head of state, said it had written to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) asking it to investigate and "take the necessary steps to ensure that the Duchy is paying corporation tax in line with normal practice for corporate entities."

But Clarence House said on Saturday there was no legal basis for the Duchy to pay corporation tax as the Duchy was a trust set up to generate income for Princes of Wales. It said: ``The Prince voluntarily pays income tax on income generated by the Duchy, so there is no legal requirement to pay corporation tax and to do so would result in double taxation.''.

Republic based its criticisms on a November 2011 tribunal ruling on a dispute over whether the Duchy was required, as a public authority, to conduct an environmental assessment of an oyster farm. Republic said that the tribunal's finding that the Duchy was a "body or other legal person" meant it had "its own tax obligations".

http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/15/business/uk-prince-tax/index.html?hpt=hp_t3

Okay, I'll bite: how does a house defend someone?