Labour leader’s office asserts that he has ‘declared all income and paid appropriate tax’ after questions about the return

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Jeremy Corbyn’s office has insisted that the Labour leader’s much-scrutinised tax return is “complete and accurate”, and was put together using his actual earnings and HMRC guidelines, after reports raised questions about it.

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The return was published on Corbyn’s website on Sunday, showing a total income for 2015-16 of £114,342, on which he paid £35,298 in tax.

The figures showed earnings from employment of just over £77,000 and slightly more than £36,000 in pensions and state benefits, prompting questions as to whether Corbyn’s accountants had fully included his extra wage as leader of the opposition.

However, his office said the opposition leader’s pay had been counted under the benefits. A spokeswoman for Corbyn said this was correct, and was the way the payment was categorised by HMRC.

“Jeremy’s tax return is complete and accurate,” she said. “He has declared all income and paid the appropriate amount of tax.”

The sum had prompted more questions, as while the tax return showed Corbyn received an additional £27,192 as Labour leader, the government’s consolidated fund accounts for 2015-16 showed he was paid £30,587 over the period.

According to his spokeswoman, the figure in the tax return came about because of a deduction of a parliamentary pension contribution of £3,395. This total came from Corbyn’s end-of-tax-year P60 form, she added.

“We are disappointed the Cabinet Office did not clarify this and explain the figure used on the P60 yesterday in answer to media inquiries they received,” the spokeswoman said.

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“It is also a matter of concern that some media organisations made entirely false claims without verifying or confirming the facts, and we expect these now to be corrected.”

Labour will hope the statement adds clarity to a move intended to highlight Corbyn’s transparency over financial matters, which has instead become bogged down in confusion.

On Monday afternoon the leading tax lawyer Jolyon Maugham tweeted that categorising the supplement to Corbyn’s salary as a state benefit “seems to me not to stretch but actually to snap credibility”.

The shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, has also made public his tax return, while Corbyn’s release was published shortly after the chancellor, Philip Hammond, said he would not be releasing his.



Speakingon The Andrew Marr Show on BBC1, Hammond – one of the cabinet’s richest members, with interests in property development – said he did not plan to publish his own return, since “my tax affairs are all perfectly regular and up to date”. He added: “This demonstration politics isn’t helping to create a better atmosphere in British politics.”

On his website, Corbyn said: “I am publishing the detail of my tax return here, on my constituency website. I have made it clear that I think it is right for party leaders to be open and transparent about their tax arrangements.”

