A MULTI-MILLIONAIRE businessman has criticised tycoons who leave the UK to save tax, declaring it “mad” to put money before country.

Stuart Wheeler, who made his fortune through spread betting, questioned the priorities of the super-rich who move to tax havens simply to preserve their vast fortunes.

“I think it’s pretty mad to go and live somewhere you don’t want to be, purely for tax reasons, when you have already got a lot of money,” he said.

Wheeler made his comments after deliberating over whether it would be possible to remain in Britain while moving his fortune offshore to escape Gordon Brown’s new 50% rate of tax on incomes over £150,000, due to be introduced next year. He has concluded the arrangement would not be worthwhile.

Wheeler’s determination to live in Britain follows his expulsion earlier this year from the Tories for donating £100,000 to the UK Independence party, which campaigns to loosen Britain’s ties with Europe. He had been a strong critic of David Cameron’s European policies.

City figures have warned that Brown’s tax rise could lead to an exodus of the super-rich when it is introduced next year. Among those who have already threatened to leave are the artist Tracey Emin, Sir Michael Caine and Hugh Osmond, the insurance tycoon. Guy Hands, the private equity financier, moved to Guernsey earlier this year to protect his estimated £200m fortune.

Wheeler said he would never leave the country he loves simply to save money. “It seems to me that if you are pretty rich, the number one thing you would want to do with your money is use it to live in the country you want to be in,” he said.

Wheeler, who lives in a Jacobean castle in Kent with his wife Tessa, a photographer, said some “highly talented people” younger than himself would be tempted to become tax exiles when the new rate was introduced.

Wheeler made his fortune as the founder of the spreadbetting company IG Index and is a keen gambler. He played bridge with Lord Lucan two days before his disappearance in 1974 and is a regular competitor on the international poker circuit. His daughter, Jacquetta Wheeler, is a successful model.

In the past he has quoted the value of his shares at £80m-£90m, although more recent estimates of his personal wealth are half this figure.

Wheeler, 74, was an influential funder of the Conservatives for many years. In 2001 he made the largest single donation to a political party in Britain when he gave £5m towards the election campaign.

Earlier this year, when he was exploring how to minimise his exposure to the new tax rate, Wheeler considered moving his fortune into offshore bonds, a form of investment held overseas but not subject to British income tax. He has concluded it would be difficult to make a significant saving without falling foul of the taxman.

“I considered the matter very carefully because of the new tax coming into force,” he said.

“The straightforward way of using an offshore bond appears to be completely unobjectionable as far as the Treasury is concerned but, on weighing up the pros and cons, it seemed to me that it was likely to cost me money rather than save me money.”

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