Fuss over Jeremy Corbyn publishing his tax return is only to hide Philip Hammond keeping his secret
Jeremy Corbyn and Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell have both published details of how much tax they pay. Where is Philip Hammond’s statement? [Image: Russell Cheyne / Reuters.]
Perhaps he refused to accept the bonus that would have been offered to him when he became leader of the Opposition in 2015. Perhaps he donated it to charity. We will have to see.
This Writer does not believe for one moment that Mr Corbyn misdeclared his earnings, for one very simple reason: He’s Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the Labour Party. Any tax official with even an ounce of common sense would have known who he was and should have known what he was eligible to earn.
It is unfortunate that no explanation for the apparent discrepancy was forthcoming upon publication of the tax return, though.
That being said, where’s Philip Hammond’s tax return?
It’s all very well to criticise the details on a tax return that has been published, but what are we to make of the fact that Mr Hammond has refused – point blank – to publicise his own tax payments?
The Tory mantra – used so often on vulnerable poor people who they can bully with impunity – is “If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear”.
Clearly Mr Hammond fears publishing his taxes.
What is he trying to hide?
Jeremy Corbyn has published details of his tax return in an effort to force Tory Chancellor Phillip Hammond to do the same – but questions were being asked over whether he declared his full income as Labour leader.
The MP revealed he earned £114,342 in 2015-16, and paid £35,298 in tax, according to a summary of his tax affairs published on his website.
But the summary suggests he only declared just over £77,000 in salary and allowances and £36,000 in pensions income. Corbyn would be expected to earn around £150,000 when his pay for being party leader was included.
The move comes as Hammond has refused to publish details of his earnings ahead of this week’s Budget.
Labour thinks anyone earning more than £1 million should make details of their earnings available to help combat tax avoidance.
Hammond is one of the UK’s richest MPs, and reportedly had a net worth of £8.2 million in 2014. He made his money principally through nursing home development.
Source: Jeremy Corbyn Publishes Tax Return To Pile Pressure On Chancellor Philip Hammond
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PricewaterhouseCoopers is one of the four biggest accountancy firms in the world and has been ranked as the most prestigious accounting firm in the world for seven consecutive years, as well as the top firm to work for in North America for three consecutive years.
It would seem like a wise decision after last year’s scrutiny. But no.
Willie Nelson had employed PwC until he was prosecuted for tax evasion and he later sued Price Waterhouse, contending that they put him into tax shelters that were later disallowed by the IRS.
http://www.nytimes.com/1991/09/02/business/willie-nelson-hopes-for-a-hit-so-does-the-irs.html
Then there were the infamous Luxembourg Leaks is the name of a financial scandal revealed in November 2014. It is centered on confidential information about Luxembourg tax rulings that were set up by PwC from 2002 to 2010 to the benefits of its clients. This investigation resulted in making available to the public tax rulings for over three hundred multinational companies based in Luxembourg. This had ramifications within the UK.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxembourg_Leaks#Follow_up_in_the_United_Kingdom
In fact in the UK alone, PwC was at the centre of financial controversies that involved Northern Rock, BHS, Tesco and they even managed to hand Warren Beaty the wrong envelope for Oscar winner of Best Film this year.
Yes that was them.
So who was reponsible for this clusterfug?
Well if it was Jeremy, it was for choosing these clowns in the first place. I blame the people who are payed a lot of money to be responsible legally.
Incompetence on the part of PwC is to blame. That is, if all this was indeed unintentional.
I was joking about PricewaterhouseCoopers being his accountants.
I don’t believe Jeremy Corbyn would employ that company if it held a monopoly on accounting services.
I see. Anyway, great blog!
*paid*
You should update this to reflect the fact that Corbyn’s tax return *was* accurate and filed in full; either someone in the MSM didn’t read it properly, or they’ve intentionally levelled a false accusation.
I suspect the latter; more worrying still is that every outlet that carried the story either didn’t check it either, or carried it knowing it was wrong, either way they are complicit.
See my reply to Gabrielle.
What’s sickening is this kind of tax evasion is legal! Including former chancellor George Osborne’s family business Osborne and little paying no tax at all! I think Hammond has avoided paying the tax he should have, yet sick and disabled people are being left to suffer.
I believe any politician, local or government should all have to publish their tax returns regardless of how much or little they earn. We pay them through our taxes and if “they have nothing to hide” then it should not cause a problem.