Britain's David Cameron admits profiting from offshore trust unveiled in Panama Papers leak

On Thursday evening, British Prime Minister David Cameron acknowledged that he and his wife had owned shares in an offshore investment trust, Blairmore Holdings, that his late stockbroker father had set up in Panama in 1982. The account, whose ownership was revealed in this week's Panama Papers leak, was not set up to avoid taxes, Cameron said, and he did not personally commit any tax fraud through his holdings and doesn't "have anything to hide."

"Samantha and I had a joint account and we owned 5,000 units in Blairmore investment trust which we sold in January 2010, that was worth something like £30,000," or about $50,000, Cameron told ITV. "I paid income tax on the dividends, but there was a profit on it, but that was less than the capital gains tax allowance, so I didn't pay capital gains tax, but it was subject to all the UK taxes in all the normal ways." The prime minister's office said that Cameron and his wife had purchased their shares in April 1997 for £12,497 and sold them for £31,500, before Cameron became prime minister. The personal allowance for capital gains taxes in 2010 was £10,100 per person, BBC News reports.

The opposition Labour Party criticized Cameron's "extraordinary admission," after days of vague answers about Blairmore from his office. "David Cameron, who described the use of complex tax avoidance schemes as 'morally wrong,' has been forced to admit that he held shares in a fund now linked to tax avoidance," said deputy Labour leader Tom Watson. Cameron will release his tax returns as early as next week, BBC News says. You can watch Cameron explain his investment and defend his father and Blairmore in the video below. Peter Weber

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