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.

It was funny. Cleverley was wildly grabbing on to every single straw going... I've been in the US, I've been doing this that and the other there. Then I got home and went shopping. Which is why I don't know anything.

LK was as frustrated as us and more or less said, why are you here then? I am asking simple questions and you say you don't know anything to all of them!

I'm going to use the 'going shopping' for so many things now 🤣😂

Blardy hell. That Dan Neidle blog.

If he's correct, then Zahawi's statement is all just Barnard Castle, isn't it?

Just seen Dan Needle’s blog. He basically destroys Zahawi’s arguments. And fair play to TheSun for publishing what they did about Zahawi last week.

Exactly, the same rules should apply to all. I hope this does get investigated further. The fact that his lawyers "sent threatening letters ".
I was reminded of when I was student nurse in the late 80s and early 90s getting sent threatening letters about the poll tax, we had to pay the same amount as everyone else on a student nurse wage. Again a Tory government, also it was brought into Scotland a year earlier.

Tories will Tory. Anyone surprised by Zahawi? Surprised by Bozza on the cadge as always? Has that man ever paid a bill of his own? 'An embarrassment of riches' used to have a different meaning. Now it's just the quantity of 'donors' propping up his lifestyle. Is it possible to run out of peerages and other perks or can this bribery continue uninterrupted till he's King of the World again?

This isn't just not paying taxes. This is CORRUPTION.

How can we go on for another two years with this corrupt government??

Surely he has to resign now??

ThreeFeetTall · Today 09:25
Surely he has to resign now??“

The PM has expressed “full confidence” so it won’t be long now 😁

I think NZ will be gone by 3pm.

How can he stay? It beggars belief.

This article was interesting
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-64368741

Back in October, moments before he went into Downing Street for the first time as prime minister, he [Sunak] promised: "this government will have integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level."

I believe the phrase is "hoisted by his own petard"

AdamRyan · Today 10:12
How can he stay? It beggars belief.“

Because if arrogance in the extreme. People like him consider themselves above societal norms/expectations. Doesn’t help that his boss has the same mindset.

“How can Johnson stay, it beggars belief”

”How can Dominic Raab stay”

”How can Suella Braverman stay”

”How can Priti Patel stay”

”How can Gavin Williamson stay”

There is a huge precedent for not sacking people or not resigning.

One might add to that list.

How can Sunak stay?

Re "Labour-leaning" to introduce Dan Neidl: a couple of weeks back, Jeremy Vine introduced someone from Novara Media as "left-leaning".
Funny how they never introduce anyone as "right-leaning", especially not all the IEA panellists on Question Time (Eg Jonathan thingy who was on last Thursday).

After stating in the Commons on Wednesday that Zahawi had "already addressed this matter in full", Sunak has now asked new ethics adviser Sir Laurie Magnus to investigate Nadhim Zahawi tax case, as there are "questions that need answering".

Where's Lee Anderson MP when he's needed? Someone please let him know that Bozza is in urgent need of the financial advice that nurses and other food bank users have found so helpful.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-politics-64373990

Oh here we go with the "it would be wrong to prejudge the outcome of the investigation" script

I'm fed up to the back teeth with all of them

Why didn't Zahawi of the heated horses not just cooperate with HMRC in the first place? Why the sudden need to cooperate now?

Let's just not forget Sunaks' own tax dramas from a few months ago, pot calling kettle black springs to mind.

They are all at it and they all cover their own backs.

Why Raab us still there is beyond me, are all those enquiries going to take so long that we will get distracted by the new dramas and forget/move on???

Couldn't we just settle with

Why Raab?

Sunak's wife's position was entirely different: she legitimately took advantage of a rule that applies to her. Poor politics perhaps but not a tax problem.

Zahawi underpaid millions of tax and settled it While He Was Chancellor- which is off the scale in conflict of interest and scandal. He was charged a large penalty too: the largest percentage that can be charged for a "careless" error. And if anyone believes this was a genuinely careless error Dan Neidler has explained the HMRC stuff about why they didn't call it deliberate. Clue: it's not that anyone really thinks it was careless in the usual meaning of the word. Follow the link that @Roussette has put above.

I am sure people do believe it was merely a careless oversight. Like people apparently believe it was entirely necessary for a 56year old to have a birthday party at work before he was capable of doing any work.

I know Sunaks' position was different but they are all avoiding tax while we the little people pay them from our taxes.

Isn't it about time they do away with offshore schemes??

Its not that different though is it. Sunak while Chancellor could have done away with the tax avoiding non-dom status, but chose not to. It would be surprising if that decision was not in part influence by his benefitting from that status.