Angela Rayner has been urged to pay tax on the cost of legal advice that Labour covered to investigate her financial affairs.
A report in the Times this morning says that the Greater Manchester MPand former Deputy leader of the party’s costs had been covered by party headquarters and was estimated to be worth tens of thousands of pounds.
The report says that she is now facing questions over whether she should pay tax on the service because it is classed as a “benefit in kind”.
The paper quotes Mike Warburton, an accountant and former national head of tax services at Grant Thornton, said: “This is likely to be regarded by HMRC as a third-party benefit in kind, and it is therefore likely to be taxable accordingly.”
The MP is contesting claims that she failed to pay enough stamp duty on the purchase of her £800,000 flat in Hove, East Sussex
She quit her role as Deputy leader in September last year after independent legal advice found she had not paid enough tax
She had initially denied any wrongdoing when reports surfaced that she had bought a flat on the south coast in May of last year
She declared it as her primary residence instead of her second home, allowing her to pay a lower levy of £30,000 instead of £70,000
However, independent legal advice paid for by Labour at the time concluded that she should have paid the higher rate. This was because she had sold her 25 per cent stake in the family home in Greater Manchester to a trust for her disabled son but was still classed as retaining an interest in it
