ONE OF David Cameron’s closest political allies has made a payment of more than £10,000 in lieu of the capital gains tax he avoided on his state-subsidised second home.
Shadow climate change minister Greg Barker donated it to St Michael’s hospice in St Leonards near his constituency instead of giving it to the Inland Revenue. Mr Barker said his payment was “in recognition” of the profits he made on the sale of his taxpayer-funded home in Belgravia.
The Bexhill and Battle MP, who hopes to have a leading role in a Cameron government, made a paper profit of £320,000 on the home three years after buying it. He used his MPs’ expenses to help pay stamp duty costs and mortgage on the period cottage.
He told the Commons the property was his “second home” but the taxman that it was his “primary residence”, avoiding capital gain on profits. Mr Barker broke no rules or laws in avoiding CGT, and his expenses were cleared by auditor Sir Thomas Legg.
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