Former UK Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has been fully exonerated in a case concerning a possible failure to pay stamp duty on the purchase of a flat. HMRC concluded that she had exercised reasonable care and had committed neither a deliberate breach nor negligence.
According to the findings of the investigation, Rayner underpaid approximately £40,000 in stamp duty when purchasing a flat worth £800,000 in Hove (East Sussex) in May 2025. However, HMRC established that the error arose due to the complexity of tax rules regarding second homes and funds received from the sale of the family home, which were held in a trust for her son. The politician voluntarily paid the full amount without any fines or penalties.
HMRC’s decision removes the final legal obstacles to Rayner’s potential return to mainstream politics. The scandal erupted in the autumn of 2025, leading to her resignation as Deputy Prime Minister and Deputy Leader of the Labour Party. At the time, the Independent Adviser on Ministers’ Standards, Sir Laurie Magnus, concluded that Rayner had failed to meet “the highest standards of conduct”.
Labour Party representatives welcomed HMRC’s decision as “a definitive closure of the matter”, noting that Rayner had cooperated fully with the tax authorities from the outset.
This incident became one of the most high-profile political scandals of 2025, once again raising questions about the transparency of senior officials’ financial disclosures and the complexity of UK tax legislation relating to property.