Capital gains tax loophole 'exploited by MPs'

Date: 30th June 2008

A capital gains tax (CGT) loophole is being exploited by hundreds of members of parliament (MP), it has been claimed.

According to a report from the Mail on Sunday, MPs have been able to limit their exposure to CGT by claiming that their more expensive properties in London are their principal residences, despite the fact that this is often not the case.

In what has been described as a large-scale scam, the MPs have managed to avoid a collective total of millions of pounds in taxes through the legal loophole.

Mr Mann, the MP for Bassetlaw, told the newspaper: "This is the really big fiddle and one that is quite legal.

"Parliament allows itself the luxury of this preferential tax treatment and the MPs' estimates committee scandalously ignores this well-known scam."

The Federation of Small Businesses recently claimed that its members blame the government for the rising costs impacting their operations.