Chancellor’s Stamp Duty Tax Paid by Public

According to recent data, Alistair Darling has changed the location of his “main home” already 4 times in 4 year, which resulted in the fact that almost £10,000 were contributed by taxpayers to the costs of the Chancellor decisions. The change of Chancellor’s main home allowed him to claim thousands of pounds towards his home in Edinburgh, Scotland and to buy a new flat in London, which was furnished as well as mortgaged at the expense of the British taxpayers. £2,260 were claimed by Mr. Darling to cover the stamp duty, when he bought his London flat, as in 2004 he said his main residence was located in Lambeth, for which he paid rent to Lord Moonie. This move allowed Chancellor Darling to say that his family house in Edinburgh was his second home. In 2005, Mr. Darling entered the London property market. In September 2005, he decided to transfer his second home allowance to London, where he bought a £226,000 flat, located near the Oval cricket ground. The purchase allowed Chancellor to claim £2,260 for stamp duty and £1,238 for legal fees. The interior on Mr. Darling flat cost taxpayers £2,074 for furniture and £2,339 for carpeting in “magnolia”. The total costs of the flat’s furnishing amounted to more than £9,500. In June 2007, upon his appointment to the post of the Chancellor, Mr. Darling received a Downing Street apartment and in September he claimed he was renting his London flat out. Within a few months, Mr. Darling changed his “second home” back to Edinburgh, and since that time he has claimed approximately £1,200 each month in mortgage and council tax. Sir Philip Mawer, who takes the post of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, claimed that it is unacceptable for ministers, owning grace-and-favour properties, to claim the second home allowance. In the past fortnight, the Prime Minister has closed this loophole under the pressure of David Cameron.