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George Osborne’s Family Firm Paid No Tax For Seven Years

The British government’s ‘crackdown’ on tax evasion has been embroiled in another credibility crisis, following revelations that the family business of Chancellor George Osborne had not paid corporation tax for seven years. A Shadow Treasury spokesman said that reports were ‘truly embarrassing’ for the Chancellor and the Labour party say that the tax row has casts doubt on his ability to make other firms pay up. Analysis from the Sunday Times newspaper discovered that the Osborne family’s wallpaper business, Osborne & Little Group Ltd, paid out dividends totalling US$485,000 (£335,000) to stakeholders in 2014, despite not paying UK corporation tax since 2008. The Mirror reports: The Chancellor, who described “aggressive” tax avoidance as “morally repugnant” in his 2012 budget speech, received a share in a £335,000 dividend payout from the posh wallpaper company Osborne & Little. Mr Osbourne holds 6,833 shares in the family firm was paid £1,230 from the annual dividend, while his parents were entitled to £270,000. The company, which employs 195 people at its London headquarters, brought in £34 million in revenues in 2015 and £722,000 profit which was shared between directors. But an analysis of Osborne & Little’s family accounts by a Sunday newspaper reveal it [...]