THE family business of George Osborne has come under severe criticism after it was found that £335,000 worth of dividends were paid out to shareholders, despite no corporation tax being paid for the last seven years.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer, who recently called tax avoidance “morally repugnant”, is still a shareholder in the company, and was awarded a dividend of £1,230 in the pay-out last year.
Although the sum received by the Tory MP is a snip of the £270,000 received by his parents, he has come under fire from many who see him as being soft on tax avoidance.
The Osborne & Little Group Ltd, which was founded by Osborne’s father Sir Peter and his brother, has avoided paying corporation tax since 2008 by rolling over losses and deferred tax payments.
The London-based interior design company, which originally offered hand-printed wallpaper, now employs 195 people and had a total revenue of £34 million in the year leading up to March 2015.
Reports yesterday suggested that the group deferred a tax charge of £173,000 while paying a £6,000 tax bill overseas.
Records also show the Chancellor owns 6,833 shares in the firm, a little under one per cent, and that the company’s senior director earns £684,000 a year.
Osborne’s father holds the title of the 17th Baronet of Ballentaylor and Ballylemon in Ireland, a title which will be inherited by Osborne as he is the eldest son.
Osborne’s brother was struck of the medical register last week after details emerged of a two-year affair with a vulnerable patient.
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