Angela Rayner tax fail

[Iwishicouldflyhigh]

But it’s ok because she was just badly advised.
I’ll remember that excuse next time I fill in my tax return.

But still confused about one can have 2 main homes?

Quite!

I am not conflating things.

I can imagine that if you sold your share of the family home to your disabled child who lived there also with your ex husband you would imagine it was your ex husband and child’s main residence.

She has a new life with her new lover in Hove and that is where she lives.

i assume that stamp duty was paid on the transfer to the trust of the 25% share?

Revolting people. Rayner doesn’t want a huge pay cut, that’s about it.

They are condemned for being fools ,nothing to do with their class.

BJs private life was never overlooked. He left his wife when she was having treatment for cervical cancer. He has 8,9, 10 children- take a guess! With 3 or 4 women. That was all over the media.

As Deputy PM and Housing minister you can’t just ‘imagine’ that you no longer own a property! A quick check of the HMRC website explains that isn’t the case 🤣

A trust is a separate entity to the individual though; it’s critical that the trustees understand that. Yes, parents can be Trustees, but everything they do in that capacity has to be in the interests of the beneficiary of the Trust. They cannot let their own personal situation cloud any decision.

yes - the new life with new lover is key here. Nothing to do with her children. No one in their right mind would agree that moving 100's of miles away from the children was a good idea and workable.

My late Mum moved much nearer to me a few years ago because realistically I couldnt support and see her when she lived 80 miles away. AR CHOSE to move nearly 300 miles away to a flat which I am guessing she is not going to adapt to suit her disabled son. Even if she did its going to take 5 hours or so drive to get there from Ashton.

She hasnt thought of anyone but herself here and its an awful look which she is desperately trying to justify.

Even though I try to avoid bracketing people together it's hard to disagree with that, PropertyD ... except that I suspect finding any "dignity" might be a problem for Angela if the way she chooses to behave is anyhing to go by

She still classed the family home she sold as her main residence for council tax purposes. And she confirms that it is her main residence in her statement issued yesterday.

She has confirmed that the Manchester house remains her primary residence 🤷‍♀️

she will continue to live there but no longer owns a stake in the house.

Oh no. Her flat has been vandalised with graffiti saying ‘tax evader’ and worse.

As I said up thread I feel she should have gone as soon as this came out, and that she should have been strongly advised to do so, but to vandalise her property is dreadful. What a mess.

Gets her more sympathy though doesn’t it

If I were her I wouldn’t swap the sympathy for the cold hard reality of the gloss having totally come off my new home. I’d never want to even clap eyes on it again!!

I cannot imagine her neighbours are particularly happy.

That is horrible. Hopefully the investigation can be concluded quickly and everyone can move on. It shouldnt take long as presumably the evidence is easily to hand.

Its not as though it was done years ago and records have been lost.

That is correct, yes.

If she has an interest in another property on the day her purchase completes she should pay the extra, but can apply for a refund if she sells/disposes of that interest within 3 years.

If this was a difficult scenario she should have obtained tax advise. As a solicitor who deals with this sort of thing day in day out, I don’t view her situation as being particularly complex. That said, SDLT is a personal tax - the onus is on the person paying to obtain appropriate tax advice so it’s a total cop out to say she had bad advice.

Frankly anyone who is happy with politicians of any colour being targeted like this is a despicable excuse for a human being. Have we really learned nothing from the murders of David Amess and Jo Cox?

As a qualified accountant, I agree.

The laws surrounding trusts can be very nuanced which your standard conveyancing solicitor would not understand. It says a lot that it's taken high level tax specialists to come to the conclusion that the additional rate applied.

I am not a labour fan, or a labour voter, but I can see how a mistake on this can be easily made.

If you use the HMRC stamp duty calculator, the question of "will the purchase of the property result in owning two or more properties". She doesn't own two properties, so the answer to that question is no.

The next question is "have you ever owned or part owned another property" and says you should say yes if you "are a beneficiary of a trust that owns a property". But that question is there to determine if the first time buyer rules apply, not the additional levy.

Based on HMRC's own calculator, it says the additional amount is not due.

This level of tax knowledge is well above what the regular person should be aware of.

If I were AR, I'd be looking at the firm that set up the trust, rather than the firm that did the conveyancing for her new flat. The firm that set up the trust should have been aware of the implications for any new property purchase.

I don’t like Angela but in this instance feel that it’s wrong and unjust to have such a go at her. She is doing what any parent of a disabled child would do.

@Noras You are conflating things. Do you understand what that means?

You said she is doing what any parent of a disabled child would do.

Maybe you aren't expressing what you mean clearly enough.

Not paying the right amount of tax is not 'what any parent of a disabled child would do', is it?

I can imagine that if you sold your share of the family home to your disabled child who lived there also with your ex husband you would imagine it was your ex husband and child’s main residence.

What you 'imagine' is just that- lack of facts.

Angela herself has said they are doing 'nesting'. That she and her ex take turns at living with their son. So they are both using the house as and when. AND are you forgetting that it is her constituency? This is not some place where she happened to have a house. She's supposed to be 'on the ground' to answer residents' questions and be their MP!

Being an accountant doesn't qualify you in legal matters where trusts are concerned.

Any lawyer would have asked more questions and got it right. It's not complicated as HMRC gives the basics for anyone who looks.

The lawyers - Shoosmiths- who are supposed to have given advice have washed their hands of it implying she withheld facts

You are not surely suggesting that the Dep PM and Housing Minister sat down and did her own calculations based on online guidance?.

You don't use any ten a penny conveyancer- you get the best legal bods in the City to do things properly.

You are making very poor-taste comments.
Comparing the murders of innocent MPs to this tax issue is dispicable and you should be ashamed.
I know you like straight-talking but this is going too far.

I take issue with that heartless comment. Whatever she has done or not done (and we don't yet know the full picture) it must be frightening to see hostile graffiti on a place you call home (OK, I know she has three of them) and to know that people you have never met have it in for you. Most of us will never have to deal with the level of animosity she has experienced, and which has now reached a hysterical level of intensity.

The trust advisors have rightly already said nothing to do with them. Shoosmiths issued a statement yesterday.

You must have been living in a different universe if you think BJ’s private life was overlooked. It was crawled over by the press.