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Tony and Cherie Blair avoided paying £312,000 in stamp duty when they bought a £6.45million London office, explosive documents have revealed.
The disclosure is contained in a leak of offshore papers which exposes hidden wealth and tax avoidance by some of the world's richest and most powerful people.
The ex-Labour prime minister and his barrister wife did not have to pay the tax bill because they bought the offshore firm that owned the property.
Mrs Blair, who runs a law firm and a women's foundation from the four-storey Victorian building, said the sellers had insisted the office be sold in this way.
There is nothing illegal about the transaction, but the deal highlights a loophole that helps wealthy property owners avoid paying a tax that most UK home buyers cannot escape.
The transaction is revealed in a cache of 11.9million files dubbed
