‘Entrepreneurship tsar’ Michelle Mone under fire for use of tax avoidance schemes

Bra tycoon Michelle Mone has come under increasing criticism for her company’s use of Employment Benefit Trusts (EBTs).

The 43-year-old was recently appointed as the government’s new entrepreneurship tsar for areas of high unemployment and is also tipped to become a Conservative peer in the House of Lords.

Documents filed with Companies House showed that her firm MJM International paid more than half a million pounds into the tax avoidance schemes in 2010 and 2011 while it was making a profit.

EBTs are a way for employers to reduce tax liabilities but were branded “morally repugnant” by Chancellor George Osborne.

Ms Mone, hit back at the criticism, saying “you won’t break me.”

She said: “All my tax affairs and those of companies and businesses run by me have been handled in full compliance with the law. Any suggestion to the contrary is defamatory and will attract legal action.”

Labour MSP Neil Findlay said: “You can see why Michelle Mone has become the poster girl for the Tories.

“Her use of tax avoiding EBTs and enjoyment of lavish expense and company loan accounts shows how out of touch she and her Tory pals are with the rest of us.”