Rachel Reeves unaware former chancellors had published tax returns

Rachel Reeves said she was not aware previous chancellors had published their tax returns when she ruled out doing so.

The Chancellor had initially said she had no plans to publish details of her taxes when asked about doing so on Wednesday.

But the Treasury later indicated she would join Sir Keir Starmer in revealing how much she has paid in tax over the last year.

Asked why she initially ruled out publishing a tax return, the Chancellor told Times Radio: “I wasn’t aware that previous chancellors had released their tax return.

“I’m very happy to release my tax return in accordance with what’s happened in the recent past, and I’ll be doing that alongside the Prime Minister in due course.”

On Wednesday, Ms Reeves had told reporters: “Chancellors and prime ministers haven’t published their tax returns in the past, and I don’t have any plans to do so.”

The Prime Minister’s press secretary meanwhile told reporters Sir Keir would continue to publish his returns, as he had done in opposition.

Figures released in February 2024 showed Sir Keir paid £99,431 in tax after making £275,000 in capital gains.

The release showed 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.

Tory MPs Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt published tax figures while they served as prime minister and chancellor respectively.

Mr Sunak paid more than £500,000 in UK tax for 2022/23 as his total income rose to £2.2 million.

Ms Reeves’s predecessor in No 11, Mr Hunt, paid a total of £117,418 in UK tax in 2022/23, a summary of his return showed.

His total income before tax was £416,605, including £27,370 in rental income.

Kemi Badenoch’s spokesman would not say whether the current Conservative leader would publish her tax returns, and suggested on Wednesday she would wait and see what the Chancellor did.

Asked about the Tory leader, Ms Reeves told Times Radio: “That’s the matter for Kemi Badenoch, but the Prime Minister and I will be releasing ours.”