Zac Goldsmith Publishes Tax Returns, Tory Mayoral Candidate Earned £10 Million In Past Five Years

Tory Mayoral Candidate Earned £10 Million In Past Five Years

Zac Goldsmith made around £10 million from trusts, asset sales and salary in the five years since he became an MP in 2010.

The London mayoral candidate published his tax returns on Monday, revealing the Tory paid some £4.5 million to HMRC.

A letter from his accountant showed Goldsmith's income hit around £6 million, most of that coming from a trust set up by his late father, Sir James Goldsmith. The MP paid around £2.8 million in tax, a rate of 46 percent.

Assets sales amounted to a further income of around £4.3 million, on which Goldsmith paid £1.7 million in capital gains.

Goldsmith previously benefitted from a "non dom" status for tax purposes. However, he recently claimed on 'Newsnight' it "was not a choice” and he ended the status “seven years ago.”

“I was born, grew up and have always lived in London - except for two years travelling abroad in my early 20s,” Goldsmith said on Monday. “Because of this I derived very little, if any, benefit from this status as my income came to the UK and was therefore taxed here.”

"It is no secret I was dealt a good hand in life, but I have been determined to play it well. I have stood up for my local community in Parliament for six years, delivering on my promises to them - which is why they returned me with one of the biggest increased majorities at the last election.”

Goldsmith’s Labour rival for the mayorship, Sadiq Khan, was urged by Tory MPs to follow Goldsmith's example.

"Zac has delivered on his commitment. With every day that Khan dodges the question, he's hiding from transparency," Paul Scully MP said.

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