HMRC is under pressure to confirm whether it will sanction Angela Rayner after police said they would take no further action in their investigation into the Labour deputy leader.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) had investigated whether Ms Rayner wrongly declared her permanent address on the electoral roll, which is a criminal offence.
However she is also facing scrutiny over whether she or Mark Rayner, her husband at the time, paid the right amount of capital gains tax when two former council houses they owned were sold.
A GMP spokesman said the force was taking no further action, but that matters involving council tax and personal tax did not fall under its jurisdiction and it had shared information from its six-week investigation with HMRC and Stockport council.
Ms Rayner had also faced questions over whether she may owe any council tax, as her brother had allegedly been living in her property while she also claimed to live there.
Stockport council confirmed that, after reviewing the evidence from police, it would also be taking no further action against the Labour deputy leader.
HMRC was the only organisation to refuse to confirm or deny whether it was investigating Ms Rayner, saying it could not comment on individual cases because of taxpayer confidentiality law. It is understood that even if she went to HMRC and waived her right to anonymity, it would be unlikely to comment.
A spokesman for the Conservative Party urged Ms Rayner and Sir Keir to clear the matter up once and for all by publishing tax advice she received, which she has said exonerates her.
The spokesman added: “As the tax expert and Labour Party member Dan Neidle has said, Rayner still hasn’t provided an explanation. Sir Keir Starmer could easily clear this up by simply reading and then publishing the tax advice Labour claims will exonerate his under-fire deputy.”
GMP made the announcement shortly before 4pm on Tuesday, as Sir Keir, the Labour leader, was conducting a general election campaign event at Airbus in Stevenage.
A spokesman said: “Following allegations about Angela Rayner MP, Greater Manchester Police has completed a thorough, carefully-considered and proportionate investigation. We have concluded that no further police action will be taken.
“The investigation originated from complaints made by Mr James Daly MP directly to GMP. Subsequent further contact with GMP by members of the public, and claims made by individuals featured in media reporting, indicated a strong public interest in the need for allegations to be investigated.
“Matters involving council tax and personal tax do not fall into the jurisdiction of policing. GMP has liaised with Stockport council and information about our investigation has been shared with them. Details of our investigation have also been shared with His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs.”
Following the announcement, Sir Keir told reporters he “never doubted” that she would be cleared by police and said: “That means that Angela can be campaigning with us. I’m really pleased that Angela has been vindicated. I always had confidence in her.”
Ms Rayner said she welcomed the conclusion of the police investigation and accused the Tories of using dirty tactics in reporting her to police.
She added: “We have seen the Conservative Party use this playbook before – reporting political opponents to the police during election campaigns to distract from their dire record. The public have had enough of these desperate tactics from a Tory government with nothing else to say after 14 years of failure.”
HMRC has criminal investigation powers to look into possible tax-related offences, including the ability to make arrests and search suspects and premises following arrests.
However, the department is not responsible for deciding which cases will be criminally prosecuted. That choice is made by an independent prosecuting authority following HMRC’s investigation. In England and Wales, the authority is the Crown Prosecution Service.
The row over Ms Rayner’s home – which emerged following allegations in an unauthorised biography by Lord Ashcroft, the former Tory peer – centred around claims that, in the early 2010s her brother, Darren Bowen, was living at a property she owned on Vicarage Road in Stockport.
Neighbours alleged that she was living with her then husband at his home on nearby Lowndes Lane. However, she was registered as living at the Vicarage Road address on the electoral register.
Ms Rayner always insisted that she lived at the Vicarage Road property full-time and it was her primary residence. If she had in fact been living with her husband, she would have been liable to pay capital gains tax of around £2,500 when she sold her own home.
In March 2015, she sold her home for £127,500, making a profit of £48,500. Because it was designated as her main residence, the profit was not liable for capital gains tax. Married couples who both have individual properties can only have one main residence between them under tax law.
A Labour Party spokesman said Ms Rayner had “cooperated fully with the police investigation throughout”, adding: “This draws a line under the matter.”
Later on Tuesday, a Labour spokesman said: “HMRC looked into this matter at Angela’s request and confirmed there is no capital gains tax liability, and no further action will be taken.”
