Does anyone believe Nadhim Zahawi?

Where are the Tony Benns of politics proper politicians who are not in it for themselves.

Gabrielle56

Short answer? Nope! Long answer? His accountant would have been briefed with what his raison d'être is, i.e. save tax and sail just the right side of the law ,should the ship wobble into dark waters, and isn't noticed, leave it there, or plead ignorance and dodgy brakes if spotted!
my, ma used to say "you must be earning it to pay it!" about huge taxes, so right. rich folks moaning about the tax they pay skillfully forget to mensh to tsunami of Dosh they're pocketting after the process of avoiding...er ...paying as little as physically possible. Zahawi is no fool and needs to be well and truly slung out of the door, we dont need dodgy traders at the heart of government telling rest of us what to fo while they swindle and steal their way through life, his reason for entering politics is probably the prize of a seat in lords at the ned of it all, so stop automatic seats being dished out and overhaul lords as a house of experienced qualifiedand/or relevant types instead of mates of mates!

That's a proper rant, Gabrielle56 and I tend to agree with you

If you are an ordinary and honest person with a small amount of money, the accountants dont want to know you. You dont have enough to play ducks and drakes with. The only reason for rich people to have any excuse is if their very well paid accountants do actually make a mistake. They are paid exactly for that reason to make sure that they DO NOT make a mistake and how close to the wind they can sail without actually doing something illegal. So you should be being told in simple terms by your accountant exactly what they have done on your behalf and that it is clearly legal. If this is not the case you are either incapable of making good judgements on peoples ability to do a good job , are complicit in what is going on , hoping that saying you didnt realize something was wrong , or you are as deceitful as they are. Which ever is the case it does not show a person capable of making good decisions and does not bode well for anyone in the government . But of course looking back at BJ and other people they all seem to be tarred with the same brush when it comes to sticking to rules they have made or being treated like everyone else.

In my experience it is very difficult to negotiate with HMRC especially if they are demanded excess cash etc. The best people to speak to them and organise your financial affairs is an accountant and I would have thought he would use an accountant such as BDO who are well experienced in managing tax affairs. I imagine it was the accountant who brought it to his notice and recommended the course of action. I suppose YouGov taking off as it did maybe complicated things. An investigation should reveal more.

Of course he's not to be trusted. What I cannot understand is how anyone could support the Tories in any way, now. I feel really sad that they seriously have any supporters, and wonder what hope there is if a substantial chunk of voters are still taken in by their rhetoric. I can't quite work out what's going on in the minds of poorer people who actually vote to keep their rich masters in power - is it some childlike wish to believe that Big Daddy (and Momma) will look after them? One 'friend' actually said to me 'I know Boris will look after us.' On what evidence??? I picked my jaw up off the floor and remained schtum. And yesterday there was a headline in the Daily Mail about the number of people on benefit and how over 50% of tax is paid by only 10% of tax-payers - I almost laughed out loud! The vast majority of those on benefit are also working - for the pittance paid to them by those fortunate 10% who should no doubt be paying a lot more! Oh - and there was a pic of Johnson (in an unrelated article) not far below the headline. Sorry...I digress. Back to the point, Zahawi, Sunak and the whole selfish, greedy, uncaring, corrupt LOT of them must be out at the next election or the British deserve what they get.

People can forget to lock their car, forget to take a library book back, forget a dental appointment, forget to put milk on the shopping list.........all this makes us human.
NO ONE can 'forget' to pay a multi million pound tax bill! Just how stupid does the worthless idiot think we all are??

ParlorGames if you forget to pay a tax bill of a large amount HMRC will get it from your estate and get you jailed.

I have lost faith with all parties , it’s easy for labour as the spotlight isn’t on them, but I truly believe they are all the same as each other . Can’t see me voting anymore

At least Kwasi Karteng was open and honest about giving rich people tax breaks in that car crash of a budget. However, what gets me is how the PM can defend his own wife's non UK tax payment on the basis that "she's from another country" whilst maintaining that Iraqi Nadhim Zahawi is just the "kind of talent" we need to attract to this country when they fiddle their taxes whilst in charge of HMRC. It's laughable that nothing stronger than "careless mistake" can be levelled at the tax cheat.

Don’t believe a word Zahawi says regarding this tax fiddle. Like many Tory MPs in recent years, it’s a case of try and get away with whatever we can; if we don’t get found out, job done; if we do get found out, say it was ‘just a careless mistake’. Taking us for fools yet again!

I am aware that to many people I am a tedious old lefty who has served a couple of terms as a local councillor. I did believe for many years that even my opponents went into politics because they sincerely wanted to make life better and, like me they saw their position as a service to their community. Sometimes the bigger town halls are corrupting, and the House of Commons is certainly corrupting. Not necessarily corrupt in themselves, but corrupting in the power they endow to their occupants. It's an enjoyable life and it's hard to leave it behind – some can never manage that.

But you do have to wonder why some people like Zahawi, who already have an overabundance of wealth and power, want to be MPs and such people never work their way through local government or their party's local structures. I really doubt whether it's a commitment to improving the lives of the people of Bromsgrove (I wonder how much he knows or cares about the history of nailmaking). It's not for the salary anyway, We may well believe that MPs are overpaid (they aren't) but even a senior cabinet minister's salary is a drop in the ocean of his total wealth.

He's there for the power and the networking of course. Same as Rishi Sunak, Jacob Rees-Mogg and, yes, Boris Johnson. They have one agenda only, to make life better for the super-rich like themselves and more so who pour funds into Conservative Party coffers in an attempt to ensure that the Party of the rich, for the rich, stays in power. The people of Leigh and Hartlepool and Bolsover are their useful idiots and they will dogwhistle all the time about how the country is going to the dogs because of "wokeness" (I'm proud to be woke, it means my eyes are open), and make sure their poodle media constantly stress how "hard left" and extreme even the most moderate members of the opposition are, to keep them onside at election time. All the time, protest is being suppressed in a way that would have caused public outrage fifty years ago while disincentives to poorer people voting are being implented as solutions to a problem that never existed.

I used to be self employed and had an accountant to do my books. I was told how much to pay the tax man etc. I didn't have a clue about tax so complied with what my accountant told me. So, part of me thinks he did the same. Although, with that amount of money I'd have sacked the accountant!

Bea0802

I used to be self employed and had an accountant to do my books. I was told how much to pay the tax man etc. I didn't have a clue about tax so complied with what my accountant told me. So, part of me thinks he did the same. Although, with that amount of money I'd have sacked the accountant!

The question is though

Did you conceal anything from the accountant?

The long list of tax avoidance scams continues with Mr Nadim Sahawi... how long does it take before he is sacked from being a Stratford MP? He has been well-known in his constituency for other illegal operations of this kind - feeding the electric cables for his riding stables etc. through his house - therefore entitled to a Government Grant for MPs second homes. Says he 'didn't know'.... sound familiar?

If someone on benefits had made a similar "careless mistake", they'd be under arrest! It stinks to high heaven, Augean Stables!

Definitely not!

OldRose but they have to be portrayed to the Red Wall as "scroungers" supported by Labour who are getting an advantage over you as you struggling to get by making an honest living.

Oh, of course, now I understand the recent news from Ukraine. Johnson has been going to Ukraine to advise Zelenski about fighting bribery and corruption. I expect other Tory Ministers and MPs have been helping too in line with Sunak's intention that his government should be full of integrity. Perhaps Zahawi will be paying a visit in the near future. Zelenski could offer the PM's ethics adviser a job there if he happens to resign his UK post.

If you remember, he had to stop claiming heat for his stables back as a reasonable M.P'.s expense. Clearly this meant that the gee-gee responsible for checking Zahawi's tax form was too cold and shivery to do a good enough job and this simple error was made.

Not sure if I made all that up or heard it frome one Zahawi's spokespeople. You can tell who they are, by the way, they hang around rainbows looking for crocks of gold.

No. These scandals could so easily be avoided by taxing money sent to off-shore tax havens. People may argue that wealthy people will leave the country. Let them. If they are avoiding tax in the first place it’s no loss to the rest of us, and they will forfeit freeloading on our services and infrastructure.

Oh. Is Ukraine an off-shore tax haven?

ruthiek

I have lost faith with all parties , it’s easy for labour as the spotlight isn’t on them, but I truly believe they are all the same as each other . Can’t see me voting anymore

Vote, people died for you to have that right. If people do not vote this country will sink even further into the cesspool of Tory corruption.

More Tory sleaze

Surely these rich people have tax accountants to advise them. Was he badly advised or just chose to ignore them? I do my DH's annual tax return and am terrified of missing the smallest incoming payment from the return, so I have no sympathy for him or any other rich person trying to evade tax.

I have not re-read the thread in full, but it seems we all agree on this one. And it is a clear NO (with perhaps one exception).