George Osborne and Jeremy Corbyn have now both followed in the Prime Minister’s footsteps by publishing details of their tax returns. As James Forsyth said on our Spectator podcast earlier today, it was just a matter of time before the Chancellor and Labour leader bowed down to pressure. But what do the two documents actually tell us? The simple answer is that Osborne and Corbyn’s tax returns make for even less interesting reading than David Cameron’s. Properly speaking, Osborne’s isn’t even a tax return at all but rather a summary of the main bits. It shows his earnings as Chancellor; it also appears to show that he isn’t putting any money in an Isa if the £3 in interest he earned last year is anything to go by. Here’s the document:
Jeremy Corbyn also published his tax return this afternoon. The Labour leader’s document shows his earnings as an MP – £70,795 – which tallies up to less than George Osborne paid in tax in the same year. It also reveals that Corbyn’s time keeping is not always up to scratch: his tax return was sent off on the 6th February, almost a week after this year’s deadline of January 31st – resulting in a £100 fine for the Labour leader. Whilst Osborne chose to publish a summary, Corbyn posted the whole document. But what’s interesting in the Labour leader’s return could be what is missing; it’s well known that Corbyn has a lodger who lives with him, but the tax return for this year appears not to include any rental income. It’s possible that this is because the earnings from this are less than £7,500, which means that under the ‘Rent a Room’ scheme, Corbyn would not be required to pay any tax. Here’s Corbyn’s tax return:
In truth, though, neither document really tells us anything significant about either politician. It looks likely that journalists will pore over the publications but few others will care all that much.
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