Ken Livingstone derides tax avoidance claims as smear campaign:
Labour candidate for mayor of London defends legitimacy of own company tax position and attacks tax scams
Ken Livingstone, the Labour party candidate for mayor of London, has defended himself against accusations of tax avoidance, claiming he is the victim of a smear campaign.
He said money paid into the accounts of the limited company owned by him and his wife, Emma Beal, was used to pay people he employed and he made no financial gain by the arrangement.
Livingstone has been accused of hypocrisy for attacking tax avoidance by others while allegedly avoiding tax himself. He recently said: "These rich bastards just don't get it … no one should be allowed to vote in a British election, let alone sit in parliament, unless they pay their full share of tax.
"Cameron's problem is too many of his team have become super rich by exploiting every tax fiddle … [We should] sweep away tax scams and everybody should pay tax at the same rate on earnings and other income."
Reports from Companies House reveal that Livingstone's company Silveta Limited had funds of £238,000 in 2011 and £284,000 in 2010. Critics claim that by directing earnings into a limited company, Livingstone is liable for corporation tax of 20% rather than paying income tax of up to 50%.
After losing the mayoral election in 2008, Livingstone earned money by writing, making speeches and broadcasting. The money is paid to Silveta, of which he is a director and Beal is secretary and director.
Livingstone said he employed a researcher, a press officer and his wife who typed his memoirs. "I am in exactly the same position as everybody else who has a small business. I mean, I get loads of money, all from different sources, and I give it to an accountant and they manage it," he said on the Andrew Marr Show on Sunday.
"You pay corporation tax. If you then take out spending yourself, you have to pay more. What I am not doing is paying income tax on the money I use to employ other people."
Livingstone said that he earned £55,000 in the last year and paid the full rate of income tax on that but did not earn enough to pay the top rate of income tax.
"The simple fact is, and the hypocrisy of all this, is Boris Johnson has exactly the same arrangements to handle his earnings from television. Almost everybody in the media, who is not employed directly, has exactly the same arrangements," said Livingstone.
"I am not offshore. I am running a small company, just like hundreds of thousands of people. It's a smear campaign currently being run."
guardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Labour candidate for mayor of London defends legitimacy of own company tax position and attacks tax scams
Ken Livingstone, the Labour party candidate for mayor of London, has defended himself against accusations of tax avoidance, claiming he is the victim of a smear campaign.
He said money paid into the accounts of the limited company owned by him and his wife, Emma Beal, was used to pay people he employed and he made no financial gain by the arrangement.
Livingstone has been accused of hypocrisy for attacking tax avoidance by others while allegedly avoiding tax himself. He recently said: "These rich bastards just don't get it … no one should be allowed to vote in a British election, let alone sit in parliament, unless they pay their full share of tax.
"Cameron's problem is too many of his team have become super rich by exploiting every tax fiddle … [We should] sweep away tax scams and everybody should pay tax at the same rate on earnings and other income."
Reports from Companies House reveal that Livingstone's company Silveta Limited had funds of £238,000 in 2011 and £284,000 in 2010. Critics claim that by directing earnings into a limited company, Livingstone is liable for corporation tax of 20% rather than paying income tax of up to 50%.
After losing the mayoral election in 2008, Livingstone earned money by writing, making speeches and broadcasting. The money is paid to Silveta, of which he is a director and Beal is secretary and director.
Livingstone said he employed a researcher, a press officer and his wife who typed his memoirs. "I am in exactly the same position as everybody else who has a small business. I mean, I get loads of money, all from different sources, and I give it to an accountant and they manage it," he said on the Andrew Marr Show on Sunday.
"You pay corporation tax. If you then take out spending yourself, you have to pay more. What I am not doing is paying income tax on the money I use to employ other people."
Livingstone said that he earned £55,000 in the last year and paid the full rate of income tax on that but did not earn enough to pay the top rate of income tax.
"The simple fact is, and the hypocrisy of all this, is Boris Johnson has exactly the same arrangements to handle his earnings from television. Almost everybody in the media, who is not employed directly, has exactly the same arrangements," said Livingstone.
"I am not offshore. I am running a small company, just like hundreds of thousands of people. It's a smear campaign currently being run."
guardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Comments