Boris Johnson Publishes Tax Records, Putting Further Pressure On Ken Livingstone

Boris Publishes His Tax Records - No Companies To Be Seen

London Mayor Boris Johnson has published his tax liabilities, having promised to reveal whether or not he was paid by a company called Finland Station.

The records, published by his accountant on Thursday - suggest that he has not earned any money via a company in the last four years, despite being accused of this by his main rival Ken Livingstone earlier this week.

According to the records which go back to April 2007, Boris has only earned money either through a direct salary - primarily since May 2008 as Mayor of London - and from freelance work, the bulk of which is thought to be through his column in the Daily Telegraph.

Boris made the disclosure after four of the seven candidates for Mayor of London agreed to do so during a hustings debate on BBC Newsnight on Wednesday.

The disclosure seems to suggest that Livingstone was wrong in his allegation that Boris earned money through corporation tax via Finland Station. It also puts pressure on Ken to disclose the precise nature of his earnings.

Lib Dem candidate Brian Paddick also released details of his tax affairs on Thursday (PDF), they showed that he was paying around 24% tax on his earnings. Last year his police pension of nearly £64,000 formed the bulk of his income.

Green candidate Jenny Jones has said she will publish full details of her income "early next week". In addition to her London assembly salary of just over £53,000, she has declarations in her register of interests on the City Hall website, including "occasional writing" for the Guardian and work for the National Police Improvement Agency.

But Ken Livingstone appears to be stalling to publish with his team saying on Thursday that Boris' disclosure is incomplete because his entire household income should be revealed.

Livingstone is under fire for paying himself through a company rather than through direct income tax, meaning he would pay 20% corporation tax on his earnings, as opposed to normal rates of income tax.

Ken' campaign manager has said: “We believe household publication is necessary for full disclosure as the question of Ken’s income and his wife’s income and their tax has been central to the coverage of this issue. Publication of Ken’s returns alone will not address many of the questions that have been raised.

“The only way to answer all the questions about this issue and to move the debate on the real issues facing London is for full household income disclosure.

"This should apply to all the candidates equally to avoid any further questions about the income and tax affairs that may or may not be applicable to them through their households."

Ken was immediately criticised for apparently failing to join other candidates in disclosing their full income, with Brian Paddick tweeting:

The row over alleged tax avoidance was ramped up earlier this week when a feisty debate on London's LBC radio station between Boris and Ken spilled out of the studio and into a lift. Livingstone had alleged that Boris had previously had similar arrangements with Finland Station.

This caused Boris and Ken to have a blazing row, with Boris describing Ken's allegations as "f*****g lies".

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