UK PM SUNAK ASKS ETHICS ADVISER TO INVESTIGATE NADHIM ZAHAWI OVER TAX AFFAIRS

Mon 23 January 2023:

The chairman of the Conservative Party was involved in a tax dispute, according to British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who claimed he had requested his independent ethics adviser to look into it because “questions that need answering,” Reuters reported.

Sunak stated that he wanted the ethics adviser to ensure that Conservative chairman Nadhim Zahawi had adhered to the standards guiding ministers just hours after associates of Zahawi claimed he would not resign over a dispute with his tax affairs.

“Integrity and accountability is really important to me, including in this case. There are questions that need answering and that is why I have asked our independent adviser to get to the bottom of everything,” he said in a statement.

“I am pleased Nadhim Zahawi has agreed that approach and has agreed to fully cooperate with that investigation.”

Zahawi said he welcomed the move and looked forward to explaining the “facts of the issue”.

“I am confident I acted properly throughout,” he said in a statement, adding he would not discuss the issue further as the process moved forward.

In the three months since Sunak was appointed prime minister, his government has been buffeted by questions over the probity of some of his lawmakers after he promised to lead the country with “integrity, professionalism and accountability”.

Earlier, an ally of Zahawi said: “He will not be standing down” after he had given details on how he settled a dispute with Britain’s tax authorities. They ruled that he had been “careless” with his declarations but had not, he said, deliberately made an error to pay less tax.

A tax policy website – Tax Policy Associates – has estimated that Zahawi should have paid 3.7 million pounds ($4.59 million) based on the capital gains tax incurred by the sale of tranches of shares in YouGov worth more than 20 million pounds.

According to a report in The Guardian, tax authorities added a 30% penalty to the amount of unpaid tax.

The government’s website states that a 30% fine may be paid when there was a “lack of reasonable care” or when the error was thought to be deliberate.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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