Moneysupermarket chief beats top rate tax

Simon Nixon, the multi-millionaire founder of price comparison website Moneysupermarket.com, today saved himself a £1.35 million slug of tax by collecting an early special dividend.

Nixon stepped down from running the business less than two years after he cashed in £102 million worth of shares when it floated on the stock market.

He still owns 53 per cent of the company and will next month collect £13.25 million of a second special dividend this year of £25 million.

That means it will squeeze into the current tax year so Porsche-driving Nixon (and other individual shareholders) will pay 40 per cent income tax on it rather than the 50 per cent top rate, which comes in on 6 April.

Chief executive Peter Plumb said Moneysupermarket had stabilised after a weak first half in 2009.

He said the recently-launched advertising campaign starring Omid Djalili had boosted traffic to its websites.

Headline earnings dropped 26 per cent to £36 million last year on revenues down 23 per cent at £137 million.