By Lucy Caulkett
Jeremy Corbyn is heaping pressure on Theresa May to publish her full tax return after he released his own tax returns to the public. Corbyn paid almost £50,000 in tax in 2016/17.
The Labour leader received a total income of £136,762 – including his salary as an MP, pay for his role as leader of the opposition and pensions – and paid a total of £48,079.80 in tax. In an attempt to suggest the UK prime minister is avoiding proving she paid her tax, the labour leader said:
He said: “Tax avoidance and evasion deprive our public services of tens of billions of pounds every year and will only be tackled if we have the political will to do it.
“We cannot expect the public to trust us as party leaders if we are not prepared to be open and honest about our own tax arrangements.”
His words make sense, but it is rather harsh to suggest the prime minister is avoiding paying tax, without any hard evidence to support this.
It must be assumed that the UK prime minister pays her tax, and in the absence of evidence to the contrary, it is a bit harsh to undermine the prime minister in this way. However, Corbyn is putting up a good fight by raising this issue and publishing his tax returns as a challenge against the prime minister.
Shadow chancellor John McDonnell received a total income of £87,353 and paid a total of £24,099.20 in tax, Labour said.