Two Labour-led councils avoided paying a total of more than £12m in UK stamp duty tax by routing property purchases through offshore companies, according to new Paradise Papers revelations - leading to accusations that party leader Jeremy Corbyn is a hypocrite for criticising the Queen’s tax arrangements.
Sefton Council, in Merseyside, bought a shopping centre for £32.5m through a Luxembourg company, saving itself £1.6m in stamp duty, The Times reports. And Warrington Council bought a Cheshire business centre for more than £200m using an offshore company, avoiding tax of about £10m, says the newspaper.
Sefton Council told The Times: “We paid all the tax due and will continue to do so.” Warrington Council said their decision to use an offshore company was made to help expedite the purchase, adding: “The only tax not being paid… is a one-off payment of stamp duty land tax.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Meanwhile, the Daily Mail reports that Labour’s London headquarters is rented from a tax-exempted property trust fund based in Jersey, and that Labour shadow chancellor John McDonnell receives a Westminster Council pension that is drawn from a fund managed by a Guernsey-based firm.
The revelations are “humiliating” for Corbyn, says The Sun. Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg called the Labour boss “ill-informed”.
Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable branded Corbyn a “hypocrite” after the Labour leader this week implied that the Queen should apologise after leaked Paradise Papers documents suggested the Queen’s private estate invested £10m in offshore tax havens.
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
-
Jobs for the boys: does the UK need a minister for men?Conservative MP calls for dedicated cabinet role to combat 'crisis' in men's mental health and education
-
The heir to Blair: does former Labour leader hold the answers for Keir Starmer?
Today's Big Question Recent ‘cosy chat’ seen as political redemption for the former PM and political positioning for the man tipped to be the next one
-
Is Europe’s radical left in permanent decline?
Today's Big Question Once-ascendant parties across the continent face an existential crisis amid internal divisions and the rise of the far-right
-
Can Labour win over Scotland?
Talking Point Anas Sarwar forecast to ‘cannibalise’ SNP votes but can he shake the ‘puppet’ image?
-
Has populism had its day in the UK?
Today's Big Question Trump-style politics may be on the wane in the UK but it has cast a long shadow over Westminster
-
Keir Starmer’s transformation of the Labour Party
Under the Radar In pursuit of victory in the next general election, Starmer has steered the Labour Party toward the centre
-
Does Labour now have the upper hand on immigration?
Today's Big Question Record net migration levels give Keir Starmer the opportunity to take the lead on the controversial issue
-
The controversial regeneration of Teesside Steelworks
feature The development has descended into polarised political controversy with allegations of cronyism and backroom deals
