THE “moral tide” is turning when it comes to wealthy people using aggressive means to minimise their tax bills, a financial planning expert has warned.

Gary Neild’s comments came after the massive leak of financial information dubbed the Paradise Papers.

The documents have shed light on the affairs of thousands of companies and wealthy individuals, many of whom are using complex structures and offshore havens to shield their wealth from tax authorities. Such havens are often legal.

Among those affairs have been under the spotlight are the Queen’s private estate, the Prince of Wales, members of Donald Trump’s cabinet, Conservative peer Lord Ashcroft, tech giant Apple and three stars of the TV comedy Mrs Brown’s Boys.

Mr Neild, managing director of Blue Sky Financial Planning in Poole, said the “net is tightening on illegal or aggressive tax evasion schemes which are entirely separate from minimising your liability through lawful means”.

He pointed to a raft of new criminal offences being rolled out by HMRC to criminalise professionals involved in tax evasion, including the charge of “failure to prevent the facilitation of tax evasion”.

Mr Neild added: “There have long been penalties for lawyers, accountants and other professionals who fail to disclose tax avoidance schemes to Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs. The difference now is that if you are acting in the best interests of client, you should be saying to them: ‘Do you really think your tax affairs would pass muster with Parliament and the press, let alone HMRC?’. The moral tide is most definitely turning and everyone should play by the book.”

He added: “The good news is that you can offset tax legally through a wide range of government-approved schemes, from capital allowances for businesses to self-invested personal pensions for individuals. There are many ways to reduce your tax liability ethically and within the law.”

The Paradise Papers are a leak of 13.4million files, from two offshore service providers and the company registries of 19 tax havens.

The leak revealed that millions of pounds from the Queen’s private estate has been invested in a Cayman Islands fund.

It showed offshore dealings by President Trump’s cabinet members, advisers and donors.

Apple was revealed to have legally moved assets to Jersey after criticism of the way it was doing business through Ireland.

Three stars of Mrs Brown’s Boys had their earnings transferred into Maritius-based cell companies, where they became non-taxable loans.