Princess Christina uses tax loophole
Monday 02 February 2009
Labour and Socialist Party MPs have criticised a member of the Dutch royal family for avoiding taxes by putting her money in an offshore tax haven, reports the Volkskrant.
Princess Christina, who is the sister of queen Beatrix but renounced her rights to the throne when she became a Catholic, is said to have inherited tens of millions of euros from her parents, queen mother Juliana and prince Bernhard.
The princess lives in London, but by putting money in a trust on the Channel Island of Guernsey avoids having to pay British taxes. The trust is managed from Paleis Noordeinde, the queen’s work palace in The Hague.
Although the Guernsey trust is not illegal in itself, MPs say Christina should act as a role model. ‘She should not be looking for financial loopholes to avoid paying the full amount of tax,’ the paper quotes Labour MP Diederik Samsom as saying.
Socialist MP Ronald van Raak has asked prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende to reveal if other royal family cash is also being put through tax havens.
© DutchNews.nl
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Friday: Cold and sunny everywhere. Heavy frost at night. Similar Saturday but thaw possible Sunday
Come on now fellas, you'll do the same thing if you had that opportunity. Don't pick on the good princess if you have nothing better to do with your time. If it's not illegal then there is no wrongdoing, is that a problem? You MP's are just looking for dirt where there ain't. Take a vacation, get a life!
By Carlos Borjal | February 2, 2009 4:41 PM