And finally…Murray chooses family over tax havens

Scottish tennis champion Andy Murray has revealed that he has no intentions of joining fellow sporting superstars in tax exile.

Half of the world’s top 20 tennis players choosing to give the taxman the slip, with world No2 Novak Djokovic making his base in Monte Carlo, along with six other of the game’s best players, and three more living in Switzerland and Dubai.

But world No1 Murray, who is estimated to be worth £77 million – earning £10.8m in prize money alone last year – has now said he is happy to pay his taxes in Britain and stay in his home in Oxshott, Surrey.

“The only chance of me living somewhere else is if I had a bunch of friends or some of my family were living elsewhere and I would move to spend time with them,” said Murray who is currently playing in the French Open at Roland Garros.

“But I wouldn’t want to go and live somewhere not to pay any tax and not to have any of my family and friends around me. I wouldn’t do that.”

Famous wealthy Scots who have chosen instead to flee the taxman include Sir Sean Connery, whose tax exile status has taken him from Leith to the Bahamas, and former Formula One racing driver David Coulthard, who was born in Dumfries, but now lives in Monaco.

Their arrangements mean they can only return to his native Scotland for a limited number of days each year.

Current British sporting superstars opting to give the taxman the swerve by living abroad are former F1 champ Lewis Hamilton, whose net worth is reported to be £131 million, a fortune which he has safely deposited in Monte Carlo.

Northern Irish golfer Rory Mcilroy, meanwhile, has been living out of a suitcase for the past few years and, for tax reasons, can only spend 90 days in the UK and 120 days in the US each year.

But following his marriage to American Erica Stoll in April, he is reported to be setting up permanent home in Florida which will keep his £82m away from HMRC.