Labour urges Nigel Farage to say whether he has financial interest in his Clacton home

"Labour has asked Nigel Farage to confirm whether he has any financial interest in his constituency home, after it emerged that his partner bought the house saving him a 44,000 tax bill. However, the Guardian revealed in May that the 895,000 house had in fact been bought by his partner, Laure Ferrari, with Farage saying his name did not appear on the deeds for security reasons. If he had made the purchase, he would have been liable for 10% stamp duty rather than 5% because it was an additional property."

"Tax follows the beneficial interest in property. In some circumstances, the law recognises that it would be fair to treat someone as owning a beneficial interest even though there is no trust deed. If this applies to Mr Farage, he would be treated as a buyer for stamp duty purposes even though he is not on the title. Whether he does own a beneficial interest may depend on whether he contributed to the price and is paying any of the expenses connected with the property."

Labour has asked Nigel Farage to confirm whether he has any financial interest in his Clacton constituency home after his partner purchased the £895,000 house, a move that saved an estimated £44,000 in stamp duty. Farage twice said earlier this year that he had bought the property but his name does not appear on the deeds, which he attributed to security reasons. Tax experts say beneficial ownership can trigger stamp duty liability if someone contributed to the purchase or pays property expenses. Farage insists the property is wholly owned by Laure Ferrari and that he did not lend her money. Labour alleges he misled constituents.

Read at www.theguardian.com