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| David Cameron faces questions over £200,000 gift from mother | David Cameron faces questions over £200,000 gift from mother |
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| The prime minister took the unprecedented decision to release his personal tax records on Saturday, as growing anger over revelations in the Panama Papers threatened to derail his premiership. | The prime minister took the unprecedented decision to release his personal tax records on Saturday, as growing anger over revelations in the Panama Papers threatened to derail his premiership. |
| Related: David Cameron: blame me for mishandling Panama Papers news | Related: David Cameron: blame me for mishandling Panama Papers news |
| But the extraordinary move seems set to plunge David Cameron into further controversy, as it emerged that his mother transferred two separate payments of £100,000 to his accounts in 2011, allowing the family estate to avoid a potential £80,000 worth of inheritance tax. | But the extraordinary move seems set to plunge David Cameron into further controversy, as it emerged that his mother transferred two separate payments of £100,000 to his accounts in 2011, allowing the family estate to avoid a potential £80,000 worth of inheritance tax. |
| Four years after first promising to open his financial affairs to public view, Downing Street published a document detailing Cameron’s income and tax payments from 2009-10 to 2014-15. The move came after an emotional Cameron admitted to the Conservative party’s spring forum that he alone was to blame for the furore caused by his failure to be frank about his profits from an offshore investment fund. | Four years after first promising to open his financial affairs to public view, Downing Street published a document detailing Cameron’s income and tax payments from 2009-10 to 2014-15. The move came after an emotional Cameron admitted to the Conservative party’s spring forum that he alone was to blame for the furore caused by his failure to be frank about his profits from an offshore investment fund. |
| On Monday Cameron will announce the establishment of a taskforce, led by HM Revenue & Customs and the National Crime Agency, to examine the legality of the financial affairs of companies mentioned in the Panama Papers, where documents relating to his father’s offshore fund were discovered by the Guardian and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. | |
| The taskforce will draw on investigators, compliance specialists and analysts from HMRC, the National Crime Agency, the Serious Fraud Office and the Financial Conduct Authority. There will be new money provided of up to £10m. | The taskforce will draw on investigators, compliance specialists and analysts from HMRC, the National Crime Agency, the Serious Fraud Office and the Financial Conduct Authority. There will be new money provided of up to £10m. |
| But following the release of the prime minister’s tax records, Cameron now faces questions over whether his family took elaborate steps to minimise the amount of inheritance tax that would eventually be due on their estate. | But following the release of the prime minister’s tax records, Cameron now faces questions over whether his family took elaborate steps to minimise the amount of inheritance tax that would eventually be due on their estate. |
| The records show that the prime minister received a considerable boost to his savings in 2011. Following the death of his father in 2010, Cameron was left £300,000 tax free as an inheritance. However, his mother also transferred two payments of £100,000 to him in May and July 2011. | The records show that the prime minister received a considerable boost to his savings in 2011. Following the death of his father in 2010, Cameron was left £300,000 tax free as an inheritance. However, his mother also transferred two payments of £100,000 to him in May and July 2011. |
| Inheritance tax is not payable on gifts up to £325,000 that are paid at least seven years before the source of the possession dies, be it property or money. | Inheritance tax is not payable on gifts up to £325,000 that are paid at least seven years before the source of the possession dies, be it property or money. |
| A spokesman for the prime minister said that Cameron’s mother and father had “some years earlier” transferred the family home to their eldest son, Alexander Cameron, and the sums paid in 2011 were considered to be Cameron’s share. | A spokesman for the prime minister said that Cameron’s mother and father had “some years earlier” transferred the family home to their eldest son, Alexander Cameron, and the sums paid in 2011 were considered to be Cameron’s share. |
| Speaking in central London, Cameron admitted: “It has not been a great week. I know that I should have handled this better, I could have handled this better. I know there are lessons to learn and I will learn them. Don’t blame No 10 Downing Street or nameless advisers, blame me.” | Speaking in central London, Cameron admitted: “It has not been a great week. I know that I should have handled this better, I could have handled this better. I know there are lessons to learn and I will learn them. Don’t blame No 10 Downing Street or nameless advisers, blame me.” |
| The four-page document, compiled by his personal accountants, also shows that the prime minister paid £75,898 in income tax on a total income of £200,307 in 2014-15. Of that total, £3,052 represented interest earned on significant savings, estimated by experts to amount to £300,000, in an unnamed high street bank. The previous year, Cameron earned £6,681 interest on savings. | The four-page document, compiled by his personal accountants, also shows that the prime minister paid £75,898 in income tax on a total income of £200,307 in 2014-15. Of that total, £3,052 represented interest earned on significant savings, estimated by experts to amount to £300,000, in an unnamed high street bank. The previous year, Cameron earned £6,681 interest on savings. |
| The tax document reveals that Cameron and his wife, Samantha, benefited from around £100,000 in rent from a property in Notting Hill, west London. And in 2010-11, the prime minister was essentially able to live for free in No 10, with £20,000 of his income deemed untaxed. The chartered accountant RNS reported that this was a “longstanding practice”. Cameron “voluntarily” cancelled it out for the following three years by declaring an equivalent amount taxable. He waived the deduction in 2014-15. | |
| The Camerons also received around £140,000 in 2010 from the sale of shares, including those held in Ian Cameron’s investment fund, Blairmore Holdings. Downing Street revealed that major outgoings in the following year included the purchase of £140,000 worth of land adjoining the prime minister’s constituency home in Witney, Oxfordshire. Another £120,000 was spent refurbishing the No 11 flat where the Camerons live. | The Camerons also received around £140,000 in 2010 from the sale of shares, including those held in Ian Cameron’s investment fund, Blairmore Holdings. Downing Street revealed that major outgoings in the following year included the purchase of £140,000 worth of land adjoining the prime minister’s constituency home in Witney, Oxfordshire. Another £120,000 was spent refurbishing the No 11 flat where the Camerons live. |
| Last week, the prime minister was forced to admit that he had made a £19,000 profit from the Blairmore fund set up by his father after days of describing it as a private matter. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn had claimed Cameron had “misled the public” and “lost the trust of the British people”. | Last week, the prime minister was forced to admit that he had made a £19,000 profit from the Blairmore fund set up by his father after days of describing it as a private matter. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn had claimed Cameron had “misled the public” and “lost the trust of the British people”. |
| Explaining his failure to be frank at the beginning of the week about his profits from the offshore fund, Cameron told his activists that emotion had clouded his thinking. He said: “I was obviously very angry about what people were saying about my dad. I loved my dad, I miss him every day. He was a wonderful father and I’m very proud of everything he did. | Explaining his failure to be frank at the beginning of the week about his profits from the offshore fund, Cameron told his activists that emotion had clouded his thinking. He said: “I was obviously very angry about what people were saying about my dad. I loved my dad, I miss him every day. He was a wonderful father and I’m very proud of everything he did. |
| “But I mustn’t let that cloud the picture. The facts are these: I bought shares in a unit trust, shares that are like any other sorts of shares, and I paid taxes on them in exactly the same way. I sold those shares. In fact, I sold all the shares that I owned, on becoming prime minister. | “But I mustn’t let that cloud the picture. The facts are these: I bought shares in a unit trust, shares that are like any other sorts of shares, and I paid taxes on them in exactly the same way. I sold those shares. In fact, I sold all the shares that I owned, on becoming prime minister. |
| “And later on I will be publishing the information that goes into my tax return, not just for this year but the years gone past, because I want to be completely open and transparent about these things. | “And later on I will be publishing the information that goes into my tax return, not just for this year but the years gone past, because I want to be completely open and transparent about these things. |
| “I will be the first prime minister, the first leader of a major party, to do that and I think it is the right thing to do.” | “I will be the first prime minister, the first leader of a major party, to do that and I think it is the right thing to do.” |
| The financial secretary to the Treasury, David Gauke, said of the taskforce: “Everyone should pay their fair share of tax, just as the honest majority already does. No government has done more to make sure we crack down on tax evasion and aggressive avoidance, both here in the UK and internationally. | The financial secretary to the Treasury, David Gauke, said of the taskforce: “Everyone should pay their fair share of tax, just as the honest majority already does. No government has done more to make sure we crack down on tax evasion and aggressive avoidance, both here in the UK and internationally. |
| “But as the Panama Papers show, tax evasion is part of a wider set of international criminality activity, together with money laundering, illicit finance and evading sanctions.” | “But as the Panama Papers show, tax evasion is part of a wider set of international criminality activity, together with money laundering, illicit finance and evading sanctions.” |