My £900,000 annual tax bill by Tory MP Zac
TORY high-flier Zac Goldsmith has revealed he hands over nearly one million pounds in tax a year.
The multi-millionaire candidate to succeed Boris Johnson as London Mayor has enjoyed a total income of more than £10 million since he became an MP.
He published his tax returns to show he paid more than £4.5 million in tax over five years – £900,000 a year.
Mr Goldsmith, 41, is the heir to a family fortune and said to be worth up to £300 mil- lion. He set out his personal wealth to combat Labour claims that he used non-domiciled status to reduce his tax bill.
He was elected MP for Richmond Park in 2010 and since then has made £6 million – mostly from a trust linked to the estate of his late financier father Sir James, plus his £74,000 parliamentary annual salary – paying £2.8 million in tax.
He sold assets to make £4.5 million more, paying £1.7 million in capital gains tax, and his tax rate over this period was 46 per cent.
Mr Goldsmith’s typical annual income of £1.2 million is 36 times the average London full-time salary of £33,203.
Boris Johnson and his Labour rival Ken Livingstone published their tax returns in the capital’s 2012 contest; they paid rates of 40.3 per cent and 33.3pc respectively.
Mr Goldsmith is reputed to be the wealthiest MP. He had been a ‘non-dom’, due to his father’s status, but says he gave it up in 2009 and pays full UK tax. He said: ‘I have today published my tax return details, prepared and verified... I gave a commitment to do so and today I deliver.’
Non- domiciled status, often seen as the preserve of the extremely rich, means individuals pay tax on UK earnings but not on any foreign income or foreign capital gains. Mr Goldsmith wants Labour candidate
‘It raises more
questions’
Sadiq Khan, Green hopeful Sian Berry and Respect’s George Galloway to publish their returns too.
Tory MP Paul Scully urged Mr Khan to follow suit: ‘Zac has delivered on his commitment. With every day that Khan dodges the question, he’s hiding from transparency.’
A spokesman for Tooting MP Mr Khan said he would do so, later this week.
Neil Coyle, Labour MP for Bermondsey, said: ‘Zac Goldsmith’s tax returns raise more questions than they answer.
‘They don’t explain any detail of the benefits he derived from his non-domiciled tax status or explain why he bought his London home through a Cayman Islands trust. Londoners deserve to know.’
The £7.7 million house in West London was bought by Sir James’s trust in 2007, ten years after he died leaving £1.2 billion for his children. The funds are managed from Geneva.