London mayoral election 2016: Conservative candidate Zac Goldsmith earned more than £10m in the last five years, paid almost £700k in taxes last year alone
Conservative mayoral candidate Zac Goldsmith has today published new details about his tax returns for the last five years, after facing tough questions on his previous "non dom" status.
According to a letter released by Goldsmith's campaign from PwC (see below), Goldsmith paid £692,870 in income and capital gains taxes last year, and another £4,573.32 in National Insurance Contributions (NIC) on his income as an MP for Richmond Park.
Goldsmith earned £67,035 in 2014-2015 as an MP, and £1,506,530 in trust income.
According to PwC, Goldsmith earned just over £6m in income from 2010-11 to 2014-15, and £4.26m in capital gains over the period.
The average percentage rate of income tax Goldsmith paid over the five years was 46 per cent – higher than the rate paid by both mayor of London Boris Johnson and former mayor Ken Livingstone, who last released their own returns in 2012.
READ MORE: Goldsmith and Khan to publish tax returns
Goldsmith said last week that he would publish his tax returns in the run-up to May's City Hall election, after being criticised for his previous "non dom" status.
Goldsmith inherited non-dom status from his billionaire father, Sir Jimmy Goldsmith, when the senior Goldsmith died in 1997. Goldsmith later gave up the privileged tax status – which allows some UK residents with foreign ties to limit the tax paid on earnings outside of Britain – before becoming an MP in 2010.
Neil Coyle, the Labour MP for Bermondsey and Old Southwark, said Goldsmith's release today didn't go far enough to explain his former non-dom status.
"Zac Goldsmith’s tax returns raise more questions than they answer," Coyle said. "They don’t explain any detail of the benefits he derived from his non-domiciled tax status or explain why he bought his London home through a Cayman Islands trust.
"Londoners deserve to know the full details of Zac Goldsmith’s tax affairs and the benefits he has derived from his non-domiciled status."
Tory MP Paul Scully hit back, however, saying: "Zac has delivered on his commitment.
"With every day that Khan dodges the question, he’s hiding from transparency. He can’t deal with the scrutiny, just as he couldn’t deal with scrutiny of his experimental £1.9bn black hole."
Goldsmith's Labour rival Sadiq Khan is expected to publish his own tax returns later this week.
