Maria Miller will not attempt to dodge a capital gains tax bill for tens of thousands of pounds, after making a £1.2 million profit on a home that was part-funded by the taxpayer.
Aides to the Culture Secretary said she would not seek to dodge a bill amid continuing demands for her resignation, saying: 'HMRC (Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs) will present her with a bill,' the spokeswoman said. 'There is no hiding anything here.'
Last week the cross-party Commons Standards Committee ordered Mrs Miller to say sorry and repay £5,800 in overclaimed mortgage expenses - £40,000 less than an independent report had recommended.
Mrs Miller was condemned for giving a 'contemptuous' 32-second apology on the floor of the House.
David Cameron again defended his Cabinet minister this morning, insisting she was doing a 'good job'.
But he also said he was 'very open' to looking at ways of improving the policing system for MPs, after criticism that they are still able to 'mark their own homework'.
Mrs Miller sold the property in Wimbledon, south London, in February for just under £1.5 million, having purchased it in 1996 for £234,000.
Between 2005 and 2009 she declared it as her second home for expenses purposes and claimed around £90,000 in mortgage and running costs - almost the maximum allowed.
Parliamentary standards commissioner Kathryn Hudson concluded that she should instead have designated it as her primary residence, and received expenses in her Basingstoke constituency.
A spokeswoman for the Culture Secretary dismissed suggestions that she would attempt to avoid a capital gains tax (CGT) bill by arguing that it had been her main home throughout the period.
The aide said it was 'common knowledge' that the London house had been Mrs Miller's second home between 2005 and 2009.
'HMRC (Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs) will present her with a bill,' the spokeswoman said. 'There is no hiding anything here.'
Profits on the sale of a primary home are generally exempt from CGT, but HMRC will calculate a liability based on any time in which the property was used as a second residence.
If Mrs Miller declares that had been the case with the Wimbledon property for four years, she could potentially face a charge of tens of thousands of pounds.
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