LONDON — One of Great Britain’s richest men, Sir Richard Branson, has permanently taken up residence in a Caribbean tax haven.
The London Sunday Times reports that Branson sold his Oxfordshire estate and will officially live in Necker, an island he bought in the 1970s and where he has spent much of his time the last seven years.
Branson’s holdings include the Virgin Atlantic airline, as well as balloon flights and health clubs, and those companies continue to pay significant corporation taxes, the newspaper said.
A spokesman for Branson told the Times the move makes "no difference for tax purposes whether he is in the U.K. or the British Virgin Islands" because Branson mostly works on non- profit ventures and donates his income to charity.
Under British tax laws, Branson will not be allowed to spend more than 183 days in the U.K. in any one year.
Forbes magazine lists Branson as Britain's sixth wealthiest man with a £2.9bn fortune – the equivalent of about $4.5 billion.
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