This man, along with eight other cabinet ministers, charged us £11,000 for tax accountants. Other cabinet ministers include Hazel Blears, Geoff Hoon, Jacqui Smith, David Miliband, Hilary Benn, James Purnell and Douglas Alexander.
Darling claimed more than £1,300 for accountancy advice over two years. One claim in February 2008, included the cost of receiving advice on 'the treatment of rental expenses against income', which seems to be a reference to his decision to rent out the flat he owned in London after he moved into a grace-and-favour apartment in Downing Street on becoming chancellor in 2007.
Hoon claimed almost £3,000 for accountancy - more than any other cabinet minister. Under tax rules, most workers are not allowed to claim the cost of paying an accountant to help them to fill in a tax return as a legitimate business expense.
Mr Darling was asked why it was appropriate in his role for him to claim for the cost of completing his self-assessment tax return. In a statement he replied: "Like many MPs, I employed an accountant to prepare tax returns for each of the years in question to ensure that the correct amount of tax was paid."
Exactly Mr Darling, you employed an accountant not the public so you pay for the service. I could live very well on £11,000 for a whole year - even although I still paying a mortgage because your pal Gordon messed up my endowment policies.
Source: The Telegraph
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12 comments:
Is anyone else now starting to see the benefits of a good old fashioned witch-hunt? Would anyone else back me if we started roaming the UK with pitchforks and flaming torches as an angry mob and chasing these 'noblemen' out of town?
"Throw him in the loch. If he sinks, he did claim for a lava lamp in good faith. If he floats, we shall see him deselected".
Anyone?
The problem PD is that witches were, on the whole, good people just misunderstood. These people are the opposite. You're right though, they should be thrown out of office right now.
So, let me get this right. The financial wizard in charge of the nation's economy had to hire an accountant to complete his tax return for him? Golly, that explains a lot about the state we're in.
Poor Mr Darling might note that HMRC delivers very good courses on how to complete your tax return, and they're free of charge. Perhaps he should start off gradually, though, in remedial arithmetic.
Honest to pete, you couldn't make this stuff up.
One excuse I heard was that their tax affairs and income matters are very complicated. Well we sure know that to be the truth. A rare truth! Ripping off the public purse is a very non-taxing job.
The Tax accountants job is to minimise the amount of tax you pay.
It what they do its neither illegal nor immoral in fact the law doesn't oblige you to organize your tax affairs so as to enable the Government to take the largest amount.
and using an accountant is tax deductible.
Using a tax accountant is NOT deductible Niko. The use of a chartered accountants is.
Their tax affairs are only complex because they've made them that was over the past 12 years. Even for my wee business tax matters have changed so radically in that time and of course, miles more red tape.
SR,
I predict a riot! Why do we just sit back and watch.....
Crazy D
Exactly, subrosa. If Darling can't negotiate a path through his tax return without the help of an accountant, how does he expect us to manage?
He helped to make the tax laws so complicated and open to interpretation.
SR,
Riot conducted in Luton, Daily mail has info!
Crazy D
Thanks CD.
CD the way would be to somehow all stop paying our taxes until we get a government and representatives we can trust.
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