Nadhim Zahawi is keeping quiet on his dealings with HMRC but Twitter isn’t – 15 favourite reactions
Former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Nadhim Zahawi may have agreed a deal with HMRC to pay more than £3 million to settle a disputed tax bill relating to his sale of the polling company he founded, YouGov.
Zahawi is conspicuously not denying that the “seven figure” tax payment was to settle a dispute with HMRC over his YouGov tax avoidance.
But how did he negotiate and finalise a settlement with HMRC in six months? It usually takes years. pic.twitter.com/uOmExUrKhK
— Dan Neidle (@DanNeidle) January 17, 2023
The topic came up in PMQs on Wednesday, but didn’t get what most people would describe as a satisfactory answer.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak brushes off question about Nadhim Zahawi’s tax affairs.
How forthcoming of him. pic.twitter.com/mAICGXMCK2
— PoliticsJOE (@PoliticsJOE_UK) January 18, 2023
Nadhim Zahawi’s story doesn’t add up.https://t.co/BlK7gfyVWP
— Angela Rayner 🌹 (@AngelaRayner) January 18, 2023
People have had one or two thoughts on the matter.
1.
Well, this is embarrassing @nadhimzahawi… pic.twitter.com/kyyXYTlmkC
— Marina Purkiss (@MarinaPurkiss) January 16, 2023
2.
Nadhim Zahawi didn’t attend Parliament for #PMQs as he was busy dealing with the total lack of interest in his tax affairs from the media.
— Parody Rishi Sunak (@Parody_PM) January 18, 2023
3.
I just went down to my local hospital with my "Exonerate The Nadhim One" collection bucket, to ask the striking nurses to dig deep for a good cause. You'd be astonished at the reception I got.
— THE SECRET TORY 🇬🇧 (@secrettory12) January 18, 2023
4.
Better than nothing, I suppose, but this is a matter of integrity in public office and as such should be put to every member of government put forward for interview. https://t.co/7eCRz3qHzj
— James Oh Brien (@mrjamesob) January 18, 2023
5.
If HMRC decided I'd paid £100 too little tax, I could be prosecuted.
How can a former Chancellor get away with £3.4 million of apparent tax fraud (perhaps he made innocent mistakes) yet he doesn't even have to explain himself to parliament?https://t.co/r0QeE6rvxb
— Rachel Clarke (@doctor_oxford) January 18, 2023
6.
when Nadhim Zahawi was asked by reporters last July about a story that he was being investigated over his finances, the then chancellor said he was the victim of a “smear”…..https://t.co/cB4X1PNLK9
— Jim Pickard (@PickardJE) January 18, 2023
7.
Given that we now know that Nadhim Zahawi negotiated the payment of £3m and paid his accountants £0.5m this brings to my mind just how much did he actually owe. £6m, £10m,£20m!?
— Sir David Hendry 💙🏴🏴💜 (@DavidHe93145948) January 17, 2023
8.
It’s not normal to make seven figure settlements with HMRC
It’s not normal to have seven figure tax bills
It’s not normal to have seven figure amounts available to pay tax bills
&
It’s not normal to use Gibraltar-based companies to hold shares in trust for you to not pay tax
— Prof Paul Bernal (@PaulbernalUK) January 17, 2023
9.
Boris Becker 2.5 years prison for tax evasion failing to declare £2.5m overseas assets.
Nadhim Zahawi £3.7 million in tax after failing to declare capital gains on overseas assets.
Anyone explain that to me?— Frances Hinde (@franceshinde) January 18, 2023
10.
The good news is that Nadhim Zahawi has put in an expenses claim for the £3million he paid HMRC.
— Parody Rishi Sunak (@Parody_PM) January 18, 2023
11.
Zahawi should allow HMRC to provide a full explanation on this or Parliament should require it. It is not acceptable that the matter remains obscure – full transparency is essential. @RachelReevesMP @Keir_Starmer https://t.co/ruZUClLeHi
— Jessica Simor KC (@JMPSimor) January 17, 2023
12.
‘When I was Chancellor I actually owed the HMRC millions of pounds’ pic.twitter.com/CxJBeFyPOv
— Toby Earle 🇺🇦 (@TobyonTV) January 16, 2023
13.
Absolutely wild to learn from Sunak that Zahawi can "fully deal with" his millions of outstanding HMRC liability by telling people he's thinking of paying it.
— Willard Foxton Todd (@WillardFoxton) January 18, 2023
14.
Hey main stream media less shite about Prince Harry’s frozen knob and tell us more about this #NadhimZahawi HMRC settlement pic.twitter.com/hPJQm7q9oV
— Janey Godley (@JaneyGodley) January 17, 2023
At least he’s the only one. Oh!
Sunak, when Chancellor, his family avoided UK tax
Zahawi, when Chancellor, he avoided UK tax
Hunt, before he was Chancellor, avoided UK tax
Is it too much to ask for a Chancellor that actually follows the rules?
— Farrukh (@implausibleblog) January 16, 2023
READ MORE
James O’Brien had the best summary of Nadhim Zahawi’s desperate argument against the nurses’ strike
Image Screengrab
