Keir Starmer’s tax payments released day after PM’s published
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Sir Keir Starmer has followed Rishi Sunak by publishing a summary of his tax returns. The document covering the period he has been Labour leader shows he paid £67,033 to HMRC in the 2021/22 financial year and £51,547 in 2020/21.
Over his two years as Labour leader, Sir Keir earned £359,720, from his income as an MP and leader of the Opposition and from book royalties.
The total also included capital gains last year of £85,466, which he said was linked to the sale of a house he helped his sister buy.
Sir Keir paid £118,580 in tax on earnings of £359,720 over the last two years, the summary of his tax returns showed.
The Labour leader’s release comes after the Prime Minister yesterday published his own tax return summary.
But critics questioned the timing of the release on a busy day in Westminster.
It coincided with the grilling of Boris Johnson by the Privileges Committee over whether he misled the House of Commons with his denials about partygate.
It was also on the same day as MPs voted on Mr Sunak’s new Brexit deal on Northern Ireland for the first time.
Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner tweeted: “Wonder why he’s chosen today?”
Conservative Party chairman Greg Hands defended Mr Sunak’s high tax bill, saying “we want to have, in this country, wealthy people paying a lot of tax”.
He told ITV’s Peston: “I think we should be proud of the fact that people are paying tax in this country and proud of the fact they’re financing our excellent public services.”
Mr Sunak, who is regarded as among the richest ever inhabitants of Downing Street, first pledged to publish his tax returns during his unsuccessful campaign to become Tory leader last summer, in an attempt to put transparency at the heart of his bid.
He repeatedly promised to do so in recent months, and faced continued pressure to release the documents when it emerged Nadhim Zahawi settled an estimated £4.7 million bill with HMRC while he was chancellor.
Mr Sunak’s family finances previously faced scrutiny while he was chancellor when the non-dom status of his wife Akshata Murty emerged.
The backlash led to Ms Murty, the fashion-designer daughter of a billionaire, declaring that she would pay UK taxes on all her worldwide income to avoid being a “distraction” for her husband.