Exclusive: Tom Levitt the tax dodger

Some of you may have noticed stories in the press in the past few days referring to the fact that Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs (HMRC) are investigating the tax affairs of 27 MPs.

You may also remember that other MPs - in particular James Purnell - have faced criticism for not paying capital gains tax (CGT) on the sale of properties purchased with expenses. The way this scam works is that an MP describes one home as their main residence to the HMRC in order to avoid paying CGT when it is sold, whilst at the same time describing it as their second home to the Parliamentary fees office in order to be able to claim on expenses for the mortgage payments prior to sale. All of this is entirely legal, but as we've pointed out before, that does not make it right.

Tonight, we can exclusively reveal that Tom Levitt has taken full advantage of the law in order to profit from a home he has bought and sold with taxpayers money. Sources have revealed to us that when Levitt sold his first London flat as an MP, he told the Revenue it was his main residence whilst telling the fees office it was his second home.

When the expenses scandal broke in May of this year, you may recall how adamant Levitt was* that he had never 'flipped' the designation of his first and second home, unlike MPs such as Hazel Blears and others who subsequently faced a storm of criticism in the press. He may have been telling the truth, but if our sources are right then this was merely a smokescreen to conceal the capital gains tax scam from the press and public.

Levitt's words on these matters are returning to haunt him. You may remember that when the Telegraph originally turned the spotlight on him in May, he said that "as a former member of the Standards and Privileges Committee, my conscience is clear". He may want to think again now he has been caught concealing the truth for months.

You would have thought that things couldn't look much worse for Levitt, but this revelation proves what slippery snake this individual really is. The truth must out, and he has a lot more explaining to do than he did this time last week.

*when this link no longer works, try this screen grab