The Sun, a Murdoch-owned UK tabloid, accused the socialist Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn (previously) of dodging his fair share of taxes, claiming he understated his income from speeches by £450. After closer examination, it transpired that Corbyn overstated his earnings by £270 and paid tax on the full amount.
More interesting that the fact that Corbyn overpays his tax is the amount that he actually earns: the career politician has no non-exec directorships, consulting arrangements or big-ticket lecture fees. In addition to his MP's salary, Corbyn took home less than £1,580/year — £380 for participating in a survey and £1200 in lecture fees for his participation in the "Working with Parliament" series.
The £1,350 figure entered on his tax return appears to refer to money he earned giving lectures at the Foreign Office.
However, £750 of that total was for work done after April 2015, meaning it would not fall under his taxable income the 2014-15.
That means his taxable income from the FCO lectures was only £600.
He earned the same amount for a series of 'Working with Parliament' lectures' during the same period, meaning his total lecture income came to £1,200, rather than £1,350.
The Labour leader also appears to have overstated the amount of money he brought in from the surveys, which he notes as £500 on his return.
But the total survey income in the register appears to only be £380, meaning Mr Corbyn has overstated his income from this source to the tune of £120.
Jeremy Corbyn overstated income on his tax return
[Josh May and John Ashmore/Politics Home]
(Image: Jeremy Corbyn PMQs 006, David Holt, CC-BY)
