Nadhim Zahawi is under growing pressure after admitting he paid a settlement to HM Revenue & Customs following a “careless and not deliberate” tax error related to a shareholding in YouGov. The embattled Conservative party chairman released a statement on Saturday to “address some of the confusion about my finances”, after it was reported that he paid HMRC a seven-figure sum to end a dispute.
But the statement raised further questions, including whether Mr Zahawi negotiated the settlement when he was chancellor and in charge of the country’s taxation. Claims about Mr Zahawi’s tax affairs began emerging when he was appointed chancellor by Boris Johnson last summer, with reports suggesting Cabinet Office officials had alerted the then-prime minister to the HMRC dispute.
Mr Zahawi, who attends Rishi Sunak’s Cabinet, did not disclose the size of the settlement – reported to be an estimated £4.8 million including a 30% penalty – or confirm whether he paid a fine. He denied allegations that he avoided tax by using an offshore company registered in Gibraltar to hold shares in YouGov.
