News / Economy

UK PM avoided inheritance duties, tax records show

Sunday, 10 April 2016 4:55 AM [ Last Update: Sunday, 10 April 2016 1:17 PM ]

British Prime Minister David Cameron

British Prime Minister David Cameron is under fire for avoiding inheritance tax after his mother gave him £200,000 following his father’s death, the premier’s personal finance details show.

Details of Cameron’s income and tax affairs were released by Downing Street on Saturday in a four-page document compiled by his accountants.

Cameron was left £300,000 tax free as an inheritance following the death of his father in 2010, according to the papers.

Later in May and July 2011, his mother also transferred two separate payments of £100,000 to his accounts.

The sum allowed the family estate to avoid a potential £80,000 worth of inheritance tax.

The tax documents further showed that Cameron had a taxable income of more than £200,000 in 2014-15 and paid almost £76,000 in tax.

Last week, Cameron was forced to admit that he and his wife held a £30,000 stake in his father’s offshore company after questions about his profits from the offshore fund mentioned in the leaks dubbed Panama Papers. The shares were sold months before he became prime minister in 2010.

A demonstrator holds a placard during a protest outside Downing Street in Whitehall, central London, Britain, April 9, 2016. ©Reuters

The Panama Papers are a leak of 11.5 million files from the database of the world’s fourth biggest offshore law firm, Mossack Fonseca. The records, which were obtained from an anonymous source last week, contain information on 215,000 offshore entities connected to individuals in more than 200 countries and territories.

Speaking to the Conservative party’s spring forum, the British prime minster said he was to blame for the furore caused by his failure to be frank about his profits from an offshore investment fund.

He further admitted that he “should have handled this better” and “will learn the lessons” from the row.

On Saturday, thousands of protesters took to the streets in London to call for tough action on tax avoidance or Cameron's resignation.

Prime minister's office announced that a new task force is to investigate allegations of tax-dodging and money laundering linked to the Panama Papers data leak.

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