Chancellor Rachel Reeves has refused to publish her tax return despite Sir Keir Starmer intending to set out how much he paid. Ms Reeves said she had no plans to release information on her personal finances, but Downing Street confirmed the Prime Minister would.
In 2024, a summary of Sir Keir’s return showed he paid almost £100,000 to the taxman. The Prime Minister’s press secretary told reporters on Wednesday: “He published his tax return in opposition and will do so as Prime Minister.”. But hours earlier, Ms Reeves, answering questions following a major speech on her economic growth plans, said: “Chancellors and prime ministers haven’t published their tax returns in the past, and I don’t have any plans to do so.”.
Both Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt published tax figures while they were in Government, as Sir Keir did in opposition. Figures released in February 2024 showed Sir Keir Starmer paid £99,431 in tax after making £275,000 in capital gains. The release showed that the Labour leader paid £44,308 in income tax in 2022/23.
He also paid £52,688 in capital gains tax, after the sale of a field in December 2022 partly owned by himself and partly owned by his father’s estate. Rishi Sunak published a summary of his tax affairs while he was in No 10. The then prime minister paid more than £500,000 in UK tax for 2022/23 as his total income rose to £2.2 million.
