It just gets worse.
He told the Parliamentary authorities that his main home was in Scotland so he could pocket the most allowances possible.
He told the taxman that his main home was in London so he'd avoid paying capital gains tax on it.
Isn't it funny how many UKIPPERS are rushing to defend Lord Pearson over this?
"Only claiming what he was entitled to claim " or "he has not broken the law" are two that come to mind.
This is correct but it does not mean that we don't have the right to object on moral grounds. Especially when you remember that UKIP rallies against misuse of EU money that is similarly permitted by EU rules.
And don't forget that UKIP's leaders were the first to condemn MPs for doing what Lord Pearson has done himself.
But who is leaking these Pearson stories to the media? The answer may interest you and may EVEN surprise you. Watch this space!
From The Telegraph:
Lord Pearson, the new leader of Ukip, legally avoided a £275,000 capital gains tax bill by telling HM Revenue and Customs that his parliamentary “second home” was his “principal private residence”.
Lord Pearson of Rannoch claimed about £100,000 in publicly-funded allowances between 2001 and 2007 to cover the cost of staying at the house in central London.
Peers can claim the £174-a-night “overnight subsistence” allowance while staying at a second home or hotel in the capital “for the purpose of attending” the Lords.
He was able to claim the money because he told Parliament that his 12,000-acre estate in Perthshire was his “main home”. However, when he sold the London house for almost £3.7 million in June 2007, he told HMRC that the property was his “principal private residence”.
This meant that he did not pay capital gains tax of 40 per cent on the profits from the sale. He said that his accountant had worked out that he would have faced a tax bill for about £275,000 had he told HMRC that the property was his second home.
“In common with usual practice, my principal residence for tax purposes has always been the house which I thought I was most likely to sell,” he said. “That is normal.”
He added: “It would have been madness not to do this basic, simple, legal thing. Why should I lose out on this as well?”
Last week, Bill Cockburn, the chairman of the body that is reviewing Lords expenses, said: “Any property that is getting taxpayer support should be declared for tax purposes to HMRC.
“If you are getting taxpayer assistance, that genuinely is your second property.”
End of article.
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