Angela Rayner is contesting claims she failed to pay enough stamp duty on her seaside flat, as the former deputy prime minister continues to spark rumours of a leadership bid.
The Ashton-under-Lyme MP, widely seen as a potential successor to Sir Keir Starmer, resigned from government last September over an underpayment of stamp duty on the purchase of her £800,000 seaside flat in Hove.
Independent legal advice at the time found she was wrong to have paid the lower rate of £30,000 instead of £70,000, after she declared the property as her primary residence instead of her second home.
However, she is now understood to have since taken further expert advice, some of which has argued she was right to pay the standard rate of stamp duty.
It is understood that this has been presented to HMRC to raise the complex legal questions surrounding the case.
A spokesperson for Ms Rayner said: “Angela’s team is holding cooperative discussions with HMRC and we are not, at this stage, able to discuss the matter any further in public given the nature of the process.”
Ms Rayner’s allies are said to be hopeful that HMRC’s probe into her tax affairs will be concluded before May’s local elections, removing what is seen to be a main barrier to her return to frontline politics.
It is understood Ms Rayner will ensure whatever she is found to owe by the investigation will be paid in full once completed.
The former deputy prime minister has sparked rumours in recent weeks she could be gearing up for a leadership bid in the coming months, with the upcoming elections in May expected to be disastrous for Sir Keir.
Earlier this month she gave a speech to the leftwing Mainstream group where she described the anti-immigration policies being pushed by home secretary Shabana Mahmood as “un-British”.
She is also preparing to launch a new podcast, called Beyond the Bubble, in an attempt to bolster her position as a potential Labour leadership contest.
But despite her criticism, Sir Keir has confirmed that he is hoping to bring the former deputy prime minister back into government after she was forced to resign last year over her tax affairs.
He told the Electoral Dysfunction podcast that his former deputy still has a “leading role” to play in his government – but he insisted that he is not “going anywhere” and will not quit as leader.
