Jeremy Corbyn finds himself embroiled in his own tax return shocker

Support us and go ad-free

As a result of the Panama Papers scandal, a fair few British politicians have published their tax returns. In the case of some Tories, the release of their details has further inflamed, rather than subdued, the public’s anger over income inequality and tax avoidance by our governing elite.

Not to be outdone, the right-wing press has come to the Conservatives’ aid, doing some of their own digging into Jeremy Corbyn’s tax return. On Tuesday morning, The Sun revealed that the Labour leader is facing “serious trouble” for, wait for it, not declaring £450 in earnings.

Or, that’s the breaking news The Sun would like you to believe.

On closer inspection, it appears that the opposite may be true. Corbyn seems to have overstated his earnings, according to Politics Home.

The earnings in question are for lectures Corbyn gave, and for him taking part in surveys. His tax return declares that in the year 2014-15 he earned £1,850 in earnings from these sources. But Politics Home have deduced, from the register of MPs’ financial interests (PDF, p77), that Corbyn only earned £1,580 for these services during that period. That means the Labour leader paid unnecessary tax on earnings of £270, and is actually due a rebate from the taxman.

Corbyn is probably very grateful to The Sun for ensuring journalists checked their claims and found that out.

Of course, it is imperative that the Labour leader pay his fair share of tax. But it is telling that the mainstream media is scratching around for Corbyn’s crumbs whilst largely defending Cameron’s attempt to fleece the taxpayer for a large piece of the economic pie.

Read on...

Support us and go ad-free

Since the Panama Papers revelations, many newspapers have insisted on the legitimacy of tax avoidance due to it being legal, and even moral. And this is no surprise, considering that many media organisations benefit from the current rules. But they’re missing the point, which Corbyn made clearly in parliament on 11 April:

do members opposite realise why people are so angry? We’ve gone through six years, six years, of crushing austerity… much of this could have been avoided if our country hadn’t been ripped off by the super-rich refusing to pay their taxes.

Quite right, and the only way to ensure they do now pay their taxes is to overhaul the system. But we can be sure that most of the media, and the Conservative government, won’t be a cheerleader for that.

Get involved!

– Read the Panama Papers here.

Join the People’s Assembly “March For Health, Homes, Jobs And Education” on Saturday 16 April.

Support The Canary to continue providing alternative news.

Image via Foreign and Commonwealth Office/Flickr

Support us and go ad-free

We know everyone is suffering under the Tories - but the Canary is a vital weapon in our fight back, and we need your support

The Canary Workers’ Co-op knows life is hard. The Tories are waging a class war against us we’re all having to fight. But like trade unions and community organising, truly independent working-class media is a vital weapon in our armoury.

The Canary doesn’t have the budget of the corporate media. In fact, our income is over 1,000 times less than the Guardian’s. What we do have is a radical agenda that disrupts power and amplifies marginalised communities. But we can only do this with our readers’ support.

So please, help us continue to spread messages of resistance and hope. Even the smallest donation would mean the world to us.

Support us

Comments are closed