Labour leader Ed Miliband has hit out at Boots chairman Stefano Pessina, saying British voters should not be "told how to vote by someone who avoids paying his taxes".
The attack comes after the Monaco-based Mr Pessina said Mr Miliband's plans for Britain are "not helpful for business, not helpful for the country and in the end it probably won't be helpful for them".
Speaking at Sky News' Stand Up Be Counted event in central London, Mr Miliband said the Boots boss should not be telling Britons how to vote in next May's General Election.
Mr Miliband said: "There is nothing that annoys people more than tax avoidance by big companies.
"Firstly, we have to act internationally, because that is the best way of clamping down on this. We also have to be willing to act on our own.
"Denmark and others do a much better job of clamping down on tax avoidance by big firms.
"Yesterday, the chairman of Boots started telling people how to vote in the General Election.
"The chairman of Boots lives in Monaco and doesn't pay British taxes.
"I don't think people should take kindly to being told how to vote by someone who avoids paying his taxes."
Mr Pessina told The Sunday Telegraph newspaper on the weekend that if Labour "acted as they speak, it would be a catastrophe".
"The problem is would they act that way or not?" he added.
"One thing is to threaten and to shout but it is completely different to be in charge and to manage the country day to day."
Labour responded to the comments by criticising Mr Pessina for living abroad.
Shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna said voters would draw their own conclusions about business leaders who live overseas and do not pay tax in the UK.
"It is important that the voice of business is heard during this General Election campaign, not least on Europe," he said.
"But the British people and British businesses will draw their own conclusions when those who don't live here, don't pay tax in this country and lead firms that reportedly avoid making a fair contribution in what they pay purport to know what is in Britain's best interests."
However Tory peer Lord Rose, chairman of Ocado and former boss of Marks and Spencer, told Sky News' Ian King Live in response to Mr Miliband's comments about Mr Pessina: "This is a classic situation of playing the man and not the ball, and I would cry 'Foul'.
"Twenty-five percent of the chairmen of FTSE 100 companies are non-British. Does that mean that these peple are not entitled to have a view about the British economy, where investment goes and what is right for us?"
The Stand Up Be Counted: Ask The Leaders multimedia event is being held to give young people access to Westminster's most powerful politicians.
During his session, Prime Minister David Cameron was attacked by young voters at the event over the Government's decision to fly flags at half-mast following the death of Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz last month.
And Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg answered questions about his party's failure to scrap university fees during a live question-and-answer session in central London.
Green Party leader Natalie Bennett was the first politician to speak at the event, which is being filmed at offices in central London and broadcast on TV and online.
The Stand Up Be Counted event comes just three months before a General Election in which social media could play a decisive role for the first time.
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