Spain's premier publishes tax returns amid scandal

February 9, 2013 | Modified: February 9, 2013 at 12:02 pm
Leave a comment

Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy leaves at a EU Budget summit at the European Council building for a break in Brussels on Friday, Feb. 8, 2013. European Union leaders closed in on a deal that would cut the bloc's budget for the first time in history and deliver a strong message that years of expanding EU powers were on the wane. If a deal emerges Friday, the budget would still need to be ratified by the European Parliament, and early signs suggest that may prove problematic. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

MADRID (AP) — Spain's prime minister has published a summary of his income and tax returns in a bid to defuse a corruption scandal engulfing his government after the publication of media allegations that he and senior members of his political party received and distributed under-the-table payments.

The accounts appeared Saturday on Mariano Rajoy's official website and indicate he took a wage cut from €240,000 ($320,780) while in opposition to €75,000 ($100,240) as prime minister.

The figures however only go back to 2003, the year Rajoy took over the Popular Party as election candidate.

The scandal emerged after leading newspaper El Pais published a report on Jan. 31 about ledgers it said were from party treasurer Luis Barcenas, stretching back nearly 20 years, showing alleged cash payments to leading party members including Rajoy.