Jeremy Corbyn's tax return 'gaffe' could be deeply embarrassing for Labour

Labour insist Jeremy Corbyn has paid all the tax he should have done.

But as of this evening they still have no clear explanation as to why, at the top of his tax return, "Pay from all employments" is listed as £77,019 when in actual fact it was probably about £40,000 more than that.

Mr Corbyn's pay as Leader of the Opposition appears to be missing from his return, or at the very least is not declared correctly.

The party says the tax was all paid at source and there is a suggestion that it may have been entered on the return as something other than "pay from employment". But there is no clarity on the matter.

This could be acutely embarrassing for Jeremy Corbyn. On Wednesday he will have to stand up and answer Philip Hammond's Budget in the House of Commons.

Even the dry Mr Hammond would struggle not to suggest that his opponent could not manage his own finances, never mind the nation's.

If it emerges that he has not declared income to HMRC that he should have done, even if he has paid tax on it, that could be more serious still. I'm told the information published is the same as that submitted to HMRC.

Unless the Labour Leader has a very good explanation for the tens of thousands of pounds which appear to be missing from his tax return this could be a very long week for him.

And the wound would be entirely self -inflicted; he only published his tax return because he thinks all political leaders should.