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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.
The Reform UK leader has come under scrutiny over the property in Clacton, Essex, after saying four times earlier this year that he had bought a house there.
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.
Since then, tax experts have pointed out that if Farage had any beneficial ownership in the property it could mean a tax liability. Sean Randall, who specialises in stamp duty, said: “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.”
Farage has dismissed questions about the property, saying it was wholly owned by Ferrari. He told the Mirror: “I haven’t lent money to anybody. I didn’t give her money. She comes from a very successful French family and she can afford it herself. It’s convenient, it works and she loves it there.”
However, Labour wrote to Farage on Tuesday with a series of questions about the property, saying he had “grossly misled” his constituents about it.
Anna Turley, the party’s chair, said: “If what you had been telling the public for months was true then you would have been liable to pay tens of thousands of pounds more in stamp duty, because you own other properties. You have spent months
misleading the public about your own property and the same time as
commenting on the property tax affairs of other politicians.
“While you may have indicated your housing arrangement was not put in place to minimise the tax you pay, Tim Montgomerie, a senior Reform UK supporter, admitted on Sunday evening that the position over your Clacton home was ‘obviously a tax efficient way’ of managing your affairs …
“It is only right that you must now urgently provide a comprehensive and full account of your financial interests as they pertain to the property in Clacton, and explain whether you received advice not to purchase a property in your constituency in order to avoid paying more tax. Anything less than this will confirm that you aren’t prepared to hold yourself to the same standards that you have expected of others.”
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Labour asked Farage whether he had sought financial advice about buying a property in Clacton, whether he had an beneficial interest in the property and whether he had personally been paying the costs of maintaining the property or any bills, for example council tax or utilities.
Turley added: “At your Reform party conference, you were recorded saying ‘disgusting’ after a journalist asked you about some of these basic questions. You also repeatedly said ‘how dare you?’ to [Sky News’s] Beth Rigby when questioned on these issues. If you continue to demonstrate such anger when subjected to very understandable scrutiny on these issues, the public will rightly be suspicious as to whether you are hiding something.”
Farage and Reform have been approached for comment.
