British Prime Minister David Cameron released his tax records Saturday, amid growing criticism over the revelation that he was profiting from his late father’s offshore investment fund.
The disclosure has, however, reportedly stoked more controversy after records showed that Cameron’s mother transferred two separate payments of £100,000 ($141,250) to his accounts in 2011, allowing the family estate to avoid a potential £80,000 ($113,000) worth of inheritance tax, the Guardian reported.
A massive leak of documents from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca earlier this week revealed that Cameron’s father, Ian Donald Cameron, had an offshore fund, called Blairmore Holdings, and avoided paying taxes in Britain.
Records showed that Cameron received £300,000 ($423,750) as an inheritance following the death of his father on 2010. Inheritance tax is not payable on gifts up to £325,000 ($459,062) that are paid at least seven years before the source of the possession dies, be it property or money.
However, his mother also transferred two payments of £100,000 to him in May and July 2011, the Guardian reported.
Thousands of protestors, marching on Downing Street, called for Cameron’s resignation Saturday, as the British prime minister faces scrutiny over whether his family took elaborate steps to minimize the amount of inheritance tax that would eventually be due on their estate.
“It has not been a great week,” Cameron said Saturday. “I know that I should have handled this better, I could have handled this better.”
On Sunday, Cameron also announced a new taskforce to investigate tax-dodging allegations of companies mentioned in the Panama Papers. The agency would be led by HM Revenue & Customs and the National Crime Agency, local media reports said.
[source :-ibtimes]
