Tax Relief

International Tax Review is part of Legal Benchmarking Limited, 1-2 Paris Garden, London, SE1 8ND

Copyright © Legal Benchmarking Limited and its affiliated companies 2026

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

Tax Relief

Sharp suits for Sean’s Accountants

007.jpg

Your secrets are safe with me, Mr Bond

It's not often that accountants make the showbiz news for anything other than a tax avoidance scandal, but a quirky payment method by James Bond star Sean Connery caught Tax Relief's eye.

Meg Simmonds, an archivist for Eon Productions, revealed in July that there are "virtually no" Bond costumes from the 1960s. She said this is because Connery, who played the iconic spy from 1962 to 1967, and again in 1971 and 1983, kept most of his suits for himself.

For keepsakes? For nostalgia? Well, not quite.

In an auction for the coat that Connery wore in Dr No, Simmonds found out that the vendor was in fact Connery's accountant, leading several news outlets to conclude that 007 was paying his accountant in sharp suits.

The Connery family has made the news on tax issues on more than one occasion, so it's unlikely that this small revelation will leave them shaken… or stirred.

Bishop bangs bag burglar

bishops.jpg

PwC’s security team get ready for a day guarding the office

A soon-to-be partner at Big 4 firm PwC took down an alleged burglar – while dressed as a bishop.

Max Lixingstone-Learmouth was taking part in a world-record attempt relay race when he heard someone shout "stop that man" at a suspected handbag thief, who he chased down over 100 metres before pinning him against a wall with his crosier.

"It's not your day if you've been run down by a bishop," Livingston-Learmouth told the man, who must have felt that God was not quite on his side that day.

Tax Relief recommends that next time he finds himself being chased down by a member of the clergy he runs in a straight line, rather than diagonally.

Eels, badger hair and anvils are off the American menu

Wile E Coyote will feel his chances of catching the Road Runner are getting even worse if a new round of 10% US tariffs on Chinese imports are imposed as planned in September.

The list includes a range of bizarre products including, unfortunately for the hapless cartoon character, anvils.

Here are some of the more interesting items on the list:

  • Badger hair for shaving brushes

  • Human hair

  • Manure spreaders

  • Bovine semen

  • Live eels, carp and other fish

  • Shark fins

  • Baseball gloves

  • Stroboscopes

  • Anvils and portable forges

  • Magnifying glasses

more across site & shared bottom lb ros

More from across our site

The political optics of the US’s carve-out deal are poor, but as the Fair Tax Foundation’s Paul Monaghan writes, it preserves pillar two’s guiding ethos
The big four firm reportedly sent ‘threatening’ correspondence to Unity Advisory over its hiring of ex-PwC partners; plus tax recruitment news from the week
Tom Goldstein, who was represented by US law firm Munger, Tolles & Olson, denied wilfully cheating on his taxes and blamed errors on his staff
Multinationals face rising TP scrutiny as global rules diverge. As Daniel Moalusi argues, strong, consistent documentation is now essential to minimise audit risk and protect tax positions
The profession is fundamentally restructuring itself around what tax and accounting work should be, a Thomson Reuters leader told ITR
The big four firm is consolidating 16 entities across the region to create a single 6,000-partner behemoth
Brazil’s tax reform unifies consumption taxes to simplify rules, centralise administration and reduce legal uncertainty
The ever-expansive firm has once again attracted a former ‘big four’ talent to lead the new offering
The amended double taxation avoidance agreement removes France’s most favoured nation status for tax treaty benefits
The levies extended beyond the president’s ‘legitimate reach’, the Supreme Court ruled
Gift this article