Philip Hammond very sensibly says he will not be publishing his tax return, saving himself the grief that Corbyn had yesterday. It also saves the Chancellor from having to talk about Castlemead Ltd. In 2010 Hammond was the subject of a Dispatches investigation which accused him of “doing a Philip Green”, transferring 40% of his shares in Castlemead – which had already paid him millions in dividend payments – to his wife. The programme claimed that any payouts Mrs Hammond then received from the company could be taxed at a lower rate, potentially giving the Hammonds a nifty tax saving. The other 60% of the shares were put in a trust, of which he remains a beneficiary to this day. At the time Hammond strongly denied he had avoided any tax, though he confirmed tax on the dividends would be lower if his wife was in a lower tax band than him. He declined to discuss whether this was the case.

There’s more. In 2014 the Mirror reported that Hammond had gifted his share of a £600,000 property to his wife, meaning Mrs Hammond was now responsible for paying all tax on the rent from the property. The paper accused the Hammonds of using the move to avoid tax. Hammond insisted it was a “private matter” but said any suggestion the transfer was “designed” to avoid tax was “incorrect”. 

There is of course no suggestion that Hammond evaded any tax or did anything other than pay the amount of tax he owed. Guido is of the view that compelling politicians to reveal their tax returns is a slippery slope – how long before a politician argues we should be like Norway where members of the public have no privacy. Though you can see why the Chancellor would want to save himself the trouble of explaining all this…