Rayner faces calls to prove she has been ‘cleared’ by HMRC over £40,000 bill
by Martin Beckford and James Tapsfield
Angela Rayner last night faced calls to prove she has been ‘cleared’ by the taxman just in time to join the Labour leadership race.
Labour’s ex-deputy leader declared yesterday that HMRC had absolved her of wrongdoing or carelessness over the purchase of a home in Hove, East Sussex.
She was required to stump up the £40,000 in unpaid stamp duty on the south coast flat but was said to have avoided a fine.
Experts and political rivals said ordinary taxpayers were likely to feel aggrieved as HMRC almost always imposes fines in such cases.
Questions were raised about how the taxman had concluded she had not been careless, given she did not obtain specialist tax advice on the complex transaction that involved a trust being set up for her disabled son.
Eyebrows were also raised over how the probe came to be closed so quickly, paving the way for her to stand in an expected race to succeed Sir Keir Starmer.
