Nadhim Zahawi says tax error was found to be ‘careless and not deliberate’ after calls for his sacking

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Polling company YouGov, co-founded by Nadhim Zahawi before he entered politics, has been at the centre of questions raised over the ex-chancellor’s tax affairs. He said in a statement his father helped him out at the time.

Nadhim Zahawi says his tax error was found to be “careless and not deliberate” after Labour called for him to be sacked over his finances.

The Tory chairman and cabinet member released a statement saying he wanted to “address some of the confusion” about his finances.

He said his father took founder shares in YouGov and that HMRC later “disagreed about the exact allocation”, leading him to “settle the matter and pay what they said was due”.

“They concluded that this was a ‘careless and not deliberate’ error,” he said.

“So that I could focus on my life as a public servant, I chose to settle the matter and pay what they said was due, which was the right thing to do.”

‘I asked my father to help’

Questions have swirled following an article in The Sun on Sunday, which claimed a seven-figure payment was made by Mr Zahawi to end a dispute with the taxman “after scrutiny of his family’s financial affairs”.

Source: SKY