Minister quits over expenses claims

June 17th, 2009 | Author: D Lewis

Kitty Ussher insisted she had not done anything wrong, but said she was quitting
as Exchequer Secretary in order to avoid causing “embarrassment” to
Gordon Brown and his Government.
The Daily Telegraph has published details of letters between Ms Ussher and her
accountant, suggesting that she redesignated a property in her Burnley constituency
as her main home for one month before selling it in 2007, with the result that she
did not have to pay capital gains tax at 40% on the profits.

According to a letter from her accountant, Ms Ussher had previously named her
home in south London to HM Customs and Excise as her main residence. She
identified the Burnley house as her second home for Parliamentary expenses claims.

In the letter, the accountant stated: “I am enclosing a declaration to vary your previous
main residence election for a period of one month to (the Burnley home) and then
back to (the London home).

“The effect of varying the election is that (the Burnley home) will receive the final three
years’ main residence exemption and the gain will be completely exempt from capital
gains tax provided (the Burnley home) is sold before April 2007.”

The property was sold in March 2007 for £62,000, making Ms Ussher and her husband
a profit of more than £40,000, reported the Telegraph. Because it was now classed as
her main home, she was not liable for CGT, saving the couple a sum estimated at
between £9,750 and £16,800.

The procedure is legal, but has already caused problems for several other MPs,
including former Communities Secretary Hazel Blears, who repaid £13,000 to
HMRC. Mr Brown described Ms Blears’s avoidance of CGT
as “totally unacceptable”.

Ms Ussher had already caused embarrassment when it was revealed that within
months of her election in 2005 she asked the Commons authorities to fund extensive
refurbishment of her Victorian family home in south London, including the removal of
a “bad taste” Artex ceiling. In a note to civil servants, she asked “pay as much as you can”.

In her resignation letter, Ms Ussher said she was leaving the Government “with the
greatest regret” but would remain as MP for Burnley until the coming election, when she
will stand down from Parliament “completely for family reasons”.

BW News

Minister quits over expenses claims

Random Posts: