George Osborne Tweet On Tax Evasion Is Pretty Awkward For David Cameron Now

'People evading tax should be treated same as common thieves.'

On 29 October 2014, George Osborne tweeted this...

Tax evasion is not just illegal it's immoral.People evading tax should be treated same as common thieves.This agreement helps us tackle them

— George Osborne (@George_Osborne) October 29, 2014

On 7 April 2016, his boss, David Cameron admitted this...

GUARDIAN: Cameron finally admits: yes I benefited from tax-avoiding offshore fund #tomorrowspaperstoday #bbcpapers pic.twitter.com/eCjgwFDZgT

— Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) April 7, 2016

Unsurprisingly, Osborne's original tweet is now doing the rounds again with more than a few people pointing out the irony.

@George_Osborne *unless it's your boss

— anton newcombe (@antonnewcombe) April 7, 2016

@George_Osborne @David_Cameron what's your thoughts on George's views on tax invasion? #MossackFonsecaPapers

— Nick Wood (@13woodie) April 7, 2016

Cameron insisted he does not have "anything to hide" about his financial affairs after revealing he and his wife sold shares worth more than £30,000 in an offshore tax haven fund set up by his late father.

The Prime Minister has faced intense pressure to detail his interests since the Panama Papers leaks included details of Blairmore Holdings - which used "bearer shares" to protect investors' privacy.

he profited from off shore accts, selling the nhs, royal mail, banks, people's futures & the lives who've committed suicide. #resigncameron

— steve... (@loikeIsaidbut) April 8, 2016

In an interview with ITV News, he insisted it was a "fundamental misconception" that it was set up to avoid tax, saying his father Ian was being "unfairly written about".

And he said that while his and Samantha's profit from the scheme was "subject to all the UK taxes in the normal ways" - it came to just below the threshold at which capital gains tax would have applied.

He said: "In all of this I’ve never hidden the fact that I’m a very lucky person who had wealthy parents, who gave me a great upbringing, who paid for me to go to an amazing school.

"I have never tried to pretend to be anything I am not. But I was keen in 2010 to sell everything – shares, all the rest of it – so I can be very transparent. I don’t own any part of any company or any investment trust or anything else like that."

The only two things that are inevitable - death and the filthy rich will find ways to avoid paying their fair share of tax. #resigncameron

— Tony Parsons (@TonyParsonsUK) April 8, 2016

Number 10 said Mr and Mrs Cameron bought their holding in April 1997 for £12,497 and sold it in January 2010 for £31,500.

The annual personal allowance for an individual in 2009-10 was £10,100 - meaning jointly the profit was just outside the threshold.

Mr Cameron, who has been a prominent campaigner for increased tax transparency, also repeated his willingness to publish his own tax returns.

Downing Street later confirmed this will take place "as soon as possible".

On Friday morning the hashtag #resigncameron was top trend on Twitter.

Iceland led the way with dealing with their banks and their PM... #resigncameron

— Zogg (@generalzogg) April 8, 2016
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