Forget Sunak's seatbelt, what about Zahawi's taxes?

[noblegiraffe]

Our former Chancellor, it would seem, is only able to say that he has paid his taxes in full, because he realised the gig was up, he'd been caught and went to HMRC to sort it out.

And the reason it hasn't been a bigger story is that the litigious Mr Zahawi hired a firm of lawyers to send off threatening letters to anyone investigating, stating, untruthfully, that these letters had to remain confidential.

Calculations suggest that if he had to pay £3.7 million in back-taxes, this would imply £27 million in undeclared income, representing about a 1/4 of his net worth. This, therefore, is not small change, or a tiny oversight.

The timeline of events is worth reading, here www.taxpolicy.org.uk/2023/01/19/zahawi_story/

Not sure what the fine is for not wearing a seatbelt, but Zahawi had to pay a 30% penalty on his unpaid taxes, meaning that his claims that his taxes were filed and paid correctly is untrue.

He was Chancellor of the Exchequer while this was going on.

No wonder he was so supportive of Boris, going as far as to say teachers should remain impartial when discussing lawbreaking politicians

www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/4480290-Teachers-should-remain-impartial-on-matters-of-lawbreaking-by-politicians-says-Zahawi

Of course whether his tax-dodging is illegal depends on whether it counts as tax avoidance or tax evasion. No idea on that front, given how easily the rich seem to get away with this stuff.

Knowing a bit about tax affairs, there is no getting away from the fact he paid a very hefty fine for not declaring a massive £29M cash injection.

No - but you seem to be suggesting that Zahawi has 'paid off' the National Crime Agency as well as HMRC.

Paying a 'fine' isn't 'paying off' HMRC, it's a penalty for not paying your taxes.

I didn't suggest Zahawi bribed anyone. He certainly used lawyers to threaten people investigating this though, that's undisputed fact.

How can anyone defend his taking no shares in a company he created and giving 100% of his shares to his father in an off shore trust. Had he given a percentage to his father it might have been a bit more believable.

I vote Dan for PM - we need someone like this (or at least to scrutinize every MP before appointment).

"or at least to scrutinize every MP before appointment)."

They are scrutinised but ultimately it's the PM's decision as to whether they are fit for office. That is where it seems to fall down.

I am sure there will be some interesting questions if he ever appears on TV or radion again

They are scrutinised but ultimately it's the PM's decision as to whether they are fit for office.

Which is interesting, because that means that Boris Johnson appointed Zahawi knowing that he was being investigated by HMRC over his tax.

Zahawi put a video on twitter today....

....wishing everyone happy Chinese New Year.

That goes without saying.

"The government’s propriety and ethics team raised the issue of Nadhim Zahawi’s tax affairs directly with Boris Johnson before he was appointed as chancellor, ITV News can reveal.
Sources said that officials in the Cabinet office told the then prime minister about the questions surrounding his dispute with HMRC at the time of appointment, in July 2022."

Sunak was obviously aware before he appointed him as Tory Chairman.

The name Boris Johnson does come up a lot in these discussions.

For some reason

Also true. Sunak claimed to be different to Boris Johnson. What a liar.

He certainly used lawyers to threaten people investigating this though, that's undisputed fact

Is that because they kept referring to the National Crime Agency who took no action?

No Clav the investigators were threatened with libel action and were told that they weren't allowed to make the letters public, which is a lie, and the lawyers were reported to the Solicitors Regulation Agency for doing this.

It's all in the link in the OP, Clav, try reading it.

@Peanuts2000

Dan Neidle has now posted the full interview and his comments on Twitter so you can watch it through the first link

www.taxpolicy.org.uk/2023/01/22/zahawi_statement/

twitter.com/DanNeidle/status/1617102683881578498

Which is of course why Sunak had as Tory Party Treasurer someone who had been a minister in Hosni Mubarak's Egypt.
Perhaps they needed him to learn about how to fiddle the books more, or to get rid of opponents?

www.sarawakreport.org/2022/12/sunaks-cleaned-up-conservative-party-appoints-another-billionaire-with-dodgy-foreign-connections-as-senior-treasurer/

I hope he does do an interview. He always gets annoyed and defensive in interviews. He'll probably mention vaccines

Sunak is repeatedly showing himself to just be Johnson in more expensive clothing.

noblegiraffe
It's all in the link in the OP, Clav, try reading it

I was busy on another thread - going out now.

It’s worse - he was Chancellor at the point he negotiated with HMRC ie he was marking his own homework. Anyone with integrity would recuse themselves and not accept the role. It’s beyond a conflict of interest. Apart from the fact of his avoidance/evasion that should be A BIG DEAL. I hate how this government has hollowed out standards in public life.

@Roussette thank you very much for going to the bother of finding and posting this, very interesting.
It's something else to add to all the "dodgy" incidents that have occurred under this government by their Tory politicians.
As someone said earlier, Boris Becker was jailed for not paying tax, can't remember the exact amount. Maybe the police should be looking into some of these affairs as well. Can't believe they are still in government.

No problem

And yes, if I was Boris Becker I would be seriously pissed off. He owed tax about the same amount as Zahawi and was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison!

Are you busy doing some shopping like James Cleverly when he wanted to dodge this question?