FORMER Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi has agreed to pay several million in tax after scrutiny of his family’s financial affairs.
Sources said his representatives will stump up the seven-figure sum to settle a dispute with HMRC.
Nadhim Zahawi has agreed to pay several million in tax after scrutiny of his family’s financial affairs
It comes after questions were asked over whether the mega-rich Tory chairman, 55, avoided tax by using an offshore company to hold shares in YouGov — the polling company he co-founded.
His family trust, Gibraltar-registered Balshore Investments, held a stake worth more than £20million but sold up by 2018.
Mr Zahawi has said he was not a beneficiary of the trust but records show money he owed to YouGov was partly repaid from Balshore dividends.
Think-tank Tax Policy has estimated that Balshore’s sale of YouGov shares should have incurred capital gains tax of around £3.7million.
A spokesman for Mr Zahawi said last summer that his taxes were fully paid and he was not aware of any investigation.
Mr Zahawi, who ran for the Tory leadership last year, said later that he would provide full information to any queries that HMRC had about his tax affairs.
The MP, who gave up a lucrative job as a director with Gulf Keystone Petroleum in 2018, pledged to publish his future tax returns, but critics said the key questions were linked to his past.
A spokesman for Mr Zahawi, who is worth more than £100million, said he had “never had to instruct any lawyers to deal with HMRC on his behalf”.
They added: “As he has previously stated, his taxes are properly declared and paid in the UK.”
HMRC said: “We cannot comment on identifiable taxpayers.”
