revealing admin error that left him on the hook for £6,000
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An admin error left Jeremy Corbyn on the hook to pay more than £6,000 of tax in one go, his office has revealed.
The discrepancy - which aides insist was picked up in time and paid in full - emerged in Mr Corbyn's tax return, which he published today.
It's the third year in a row Mr Corbyn has released his tax return to the public, unlike Tory Chancellor Philip Hammond who refuses to do so.
Unlike in previous years, when he was fined £100 for missing HMRC's deadline, Labour's leader now has an accountant to sort his affairs.
The return sent to HM Revenue and Customs shows Mr Corbyn earned £136,762 in the 2016/17 tax year, including from two pensions, and paid £48,079.80 in income tax.
But it also shows £6,179.80 of that tax had to be paid in one ago after the end of the year because of the error.
A source said Mr Corbyn was on the wrong tax code, which meant he was paying too little tax on £78,679 salary as an MP, and his £49,191 pay for being Labour leader.
"At source he was placed on the wrong tax code, which miscalculated the personal allowance," the source said.
Mr Corbyn had paid £13,276 of pay-as-you-earn tax on his leader's salary and £27,662 on his MP's salary.
MPs' salaries are paid by expenses watchdog IPSA, and the error appears to have been spotted by Mr Corbyn's accountant.
Mr Corbyn, 68, also received £6,464 in state pension and a Unison union pension of £2,405, on which he paid £962 in tax.
Despite earning an MP's salary for 35 years, he appears to have almost no savings - earning just £6 of interest on them in the whole year.
(Image: PA)
The Labour leader's team refuse to say what he spends his money on, saying it's a private matter.
His office said he has no stocks or shares, benefits from no trust funds and did not receive any income from property.
A good chunk of his income went on charity donations, because he racked up £890 of Gift Aid contributions over the year.
Mr Corbyn said: "Tax avoidance and evasion deprive our public services of tens of billions of pounds every year and will only be tackled if we have the political will to do it.
"We cannot expect the public to trust us as party leaders, if we are not prepared to be open and honest about our own tax arrangements.”
Labour also published Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell's tax return.
(Image: World Economic Forum)
He was paid dividends from small savings he's got in a credit union that he helped to found in his constituency in 2016/17 - to a grand total of £15.
In total Mr McDonnell earned £87,353 and paid £24,099.20 in tax.
He made £68,390 as an MP after pension contributions, on which he paid £18,110 in tax.
He also earned £4,348 in state pension and £14,600 in pension from Westminster City Council Pensioners, on which he paid £5,840 tax.
Mr McDonnell then paid £149.20 in self-assessed tax on top.
He said: “It is right that people in high office are subject to a high degree of scrutiny and I call on the Prime Minister and Chancellor to follow suit and publish their tax returns in full."
Top Tories have refused to publish their tax returns.
Theresa May and now-Commons leader Andrea Leadsom published theirs during the the 2016 Conservative leadership contest.
Mrs May paid £40,023 in income tax in 2014/15. She earned £112,426 as an MP and Home Secretary and a further £6,036 in interest and dividends.
But Chancellor Philip Hammond has refused to publish his return.
He said last year: "My tax affairs are all perfectly regular and up to date.But this demonstration politics isn’t helping to create a better atmosphere in British politics."
This article originally said John McDonnell had a small number of "stocks and shares". We are happy to clarify that in fact his dividends are from a small amount of savings in a credit union he helped to found.