Tory donor Lord Ashcroft forfeits non-dom tax status

Lord Ashcroft, the former Conservative deputy chairman, has given up his non-dom status to remain in the House of Lords.

The Constitutional Reform and Governance Act, which passed through Parliament earlier this year, requires peers and MPs to be tax resident and domiciled in order to remain in Parliament.

Lord Ashcroft, the Tories' biggest donor, revealed in March he was a non-dom, thereby avoiding the need to pay UK taxes on most of his overseas earnings.

Five peers are known to have quit their Lords seats to keep non-dom status. The latest is the architect, Lord Forster, who was ennobled in 1999 and spends most of the year in Switzerland.

The others are Conservatives Lord Bagri, Lord McAlpine and Lord Laidlaw of Rothiemay, and cross-bencher Baroness Dunn.

Labour donor Lord Paul has, like Lord Ashcroft, said he will give up his non-dom status to keep his seat.

The resignations came ahead of a deadline later today, which forced peers to choose between life in the Lords and retaining their non-dom status.

They must also show an intention to leave the UK at some point, effectively giving them 'temporary' tax status.

Non-doms must spend no more than 183 days in a tax year in the UK, or visit the country less than 91 days on average per year over a four year period.

There are an estimated 120,000 non-doms currently living in the UK.