Nadhim Zahawi 'agreed to pay penalty to HMRC' as part of settlement

January 20, 2023

Tory chairman Nadhim Zahawi faces fresh scrutiny over tax affairs after claims he agreed to pay penalty to HMRC as part of multi-million pound settlement

Conservative chairman Nadhim Zahawi facing fresh scrutiny over his tax affairs
It’s claimed he agreed to pay penalty to HMRC as part of seven-figure settlement
This was ‘imposed by HMRC as a result of a non-payment of capital gains tax’

Tory chairman Nadhim Zahawi is facing fresh scrutiny over his tax affairs following claims he agreed to pay a penalty to HMRC as part of a seven-figure settlement.

The Cabinet minister has already been revealed to have paid several million pounds in order to end a dispute with the tax authorities.

It has now been reported the 55-year-old paid a 30 per cent penalty to HMRC, which is said to have brought the total due to £4.8million.

This could even have reached more than £5million, it is claimed, once interest charges on taxes owed are taken into account.

The new claims will lead to further questions for both Mr Zahawi and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak about the dealings with HMRC.

Any suggestion Mr Zahawi did not pay the correct tax at the right time will be awkward for a politician who was briefly Chancellor – and in charge of the UK’s tax system – this summer.

Mr Sunak, who has defended his party chairman in recent days, is also facing questions over what he knew of Mr Zahawi’s financial affairs before he appointed him to his Cabinet in October.

Tory chairman Nadhim Zahawi is reported to have agreed to pay a penalty to HMRC as part of a seven-figure settlement

Any suggestion Mr Zahawi did not pay the correct tax at the right time will be awkward for a politician who was briefly Chancellor – and in charge of the UK’s tax system – this summer

It is claimed that HMRC applied a 30 per cent penalty on £3.7million of tax due, bringing the total due to £4.8million

According to the Guardian, Mr Zahawi paid a penalty imposed by HMRC as a result of a non-payment of capital gains tax due after the sale of shares in YouGov.

Mr Zahawi co-founded the polling company in 2000 before becoming MP for Stratford-on-Avon.

The newspaper reported that HMRC applied a 30 per cent penalty on £3.7million of tax due, bringing the total due to £4.8million.

Mr Zahawi’s spokesperson is said not to have denied a penalty had been paid, but did not offer any explanation or clarification about the sums involved.

They said: ‘Nadhim Zahawi does not recognise this amount… As he has previously stated, his taxes are properly declared and paid in the UK.’

When he ran to replace Boris Johnson as Tory leader this summer, Mr Zahawi hit out at ‘smears’ following claims a ‘flag’ was raised by officials over his financial affairs.

Quizzed this week about the initial revelation that his party chairman had paid millions of pounds to HMRC to settle a tax dispute, the PM told the House of Commons that Mr Zahawi had ‘already addressed this matter in full and there’s nothing more that I can add’.

Mr Sunak’s press secretary said the Tory chairman ‘has spoken and been transparent with HMRC’.

Asked whether the PM believed the matter was now closed, she said: ‘I don’t know whether the Prime Minister has reviewed it in full, but I do know that he takes Nadhim Zahawi at his word.’

Neither Mr Zahawi’s team, the Conservative Party, or Downing Street have yet responded to MailOnline’s request for comment on the claim the Tory chair paid a penalty to HMRC.

Labour called on Mr Sunak to sack Mr Zahawi following the latest claims about his tax affairs.

The party’s deputy leader Angela Rayner said: ‘The position of the man who was until recently in charge of the UK’s tax system and who this PM appointed Conservative Party chair is now untenable.

‘It’s time for Rishi Sunak to put his money where his mouth is and dismiss Nadhim Zahawi from his Cabinet.’

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