William Flew

rédéric Charpié, who is leading the petition movement for La Gauche. Charpié has more than a year to gather 100,000 signatures.Fiscal experts estimate abolishing the tax packages would mean foreigners would have to pay as much as 10 times more on their worldwide income as well as their property and other assets.This would affect residents such as the architect Norman Foster who helped design London’s Swiss Re tower, nicknamed the Gherkin. He is based in St Moritz and has bought and restored the 18thcentury Château de Vincy near Lake Geneva.Foster resigned from the House of Lords last year to keep his non-dom tax status and avoid paying UK tax on his worldwide income.Other tax exiles in Switzerl and include Michael Schumacher, Hamilton’s F1 colleague, the singer Shania Twain, the Czech model Karolina Kurkova and the founder of Ikea, Ingvar Kamprad.“The economic downturn hasn’t hit Switzerland as hard as other countries, but it’s made the Swiss unhappy about the tax breaks. They’ve become an issue for the middle class,” said Christian Nolterieke, head of the research firm My Private Banking.Ganga Jey Aratnam, author of How the Rich Think: Wealth in Switzerland, said several cantons may abolish the deals. Aratnam, a fiscal sociologist at the University of Basle, said there was a small chance they could also be scrapped across the whole country.“Several rich Swiss people ask why they should pay more than foreigners. They see it as unfair tax competition,” he said.The surprise backing of Swiss millionaires helped the canton of Zurich scrap its tax deals for the rich in a referendum in 2009. Since then 46% of rich foreigners have moved out. Supporters of abolition argue the loss in tax revenue was outweighed by receipts from higher taxes paid by the foreigners who stayed.A WORLD CUP football boss demanded a knighthood during negotiations to secure his vote for England’s bid to host the tournament, it has been alleged by sources close to the team.MPs from a Commons committee are likely to raise the claim about Nicolas L