Boris Johnson refuses to pay tax bill demanded by US authorities

Boris Johnson has revealed that he is refusing to pay a hefty tax bill being demanded by the US authorities.

The Mayor of London made the admission during a discussion relating to his tax arrangements in the US.

Mr Johnson said that he is refusing to pay a tax demand issued by the US authorities – despite criticising the US embassy in London over its failure to pay the congestion charge.

He argues that he shouldn’t have to pay the bill – which relates to the sale of a house in Islington – because he hasn’t lived in America since early childhood.

Mr Johnson, who was born in New York and holds a US passport as well as a British one, made the admission during an interview with National Public Radio.

Asked by interviewer Susan Page whether or not he would pay the demand for capital gains tax, the Mayor replied: “No is the answer. I think it’s absolutely outrageous. Why should I?”

Mr Johnson, who is in the US to promote his new biography of Winston Churchill, added: “It is very hard… You may not believe this but if you’re an American citizen, America exercises this incredible doctrine of global taxation, so that even though tax rates in the UK are far higher and I’m Mayor of London, I pay all my tax in the UK and so I pay a much higher proportion of my income in tax than I would if I lived in America.

"The United States comes after me, would you believe it, for capital gains tax on the sale of your first residence which is not taxable in Britain. They’re trying to hit me with some bill, can you believe it?”

The US operates a tax system dictating that all of its citizens abroad are liable to pay taxes.

Later asked whether he would renounce his US citizenship if he became Prime Minister, the Mayor replied: “I think the chances of that happening are vanishingly small… That’s what we call a luxury problem to deal with. I think it unlikely to eventuate.”

“There’s no vacancy for the office of Prime Minister and it’s being discharged brilliantly by David Cameron. But I’m looking forward to going back into politics in Westminster.”