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Does anyone believe Nadhim Zahawi?

(297 Posts)
foxie48 Sun 22-Jan-23 13:55:01

I genuinely like to give people the benefit of the doubt if I don't know all the facts but really, does anyone believe NZ made a "careless mistake" with his tax arrangements? If he has paid the reported £4.3m (including a 30% fine) that means he underpaid by over £3m. How can this be a careless mistake? He may have a degree in chemical engineering, so he's fairly numerate but surely he'd have had accountants advising him? The whole things reeks of tax avoidance if it isn't then he should make his returns available to an independent committee or resign. I see BJ is back in the news, I'm still waiting to find out why he travelled to Italy in 2018 to meet the KGB agent Lebedev without his minders when he was Foreign Secretary.

Katie59 Tue 24-Jan-23 18:31:06

No connection with a company in Gibraltar, yet——

Mr Zahawi makes reference throughout the MPs’ register to Zahawi & Zahawi, a family firm whose holdings include his constituency home, a 31-acre estate in Warwickshire which boasts its own livery stables. The property was bought, entirely legitimately, in 2011 using a loan from a company based in the tax haven of Gibraltar.

Might be an entirely different company in Gibraltar of course!.

varian Tue 24-Jan-23 18:33:48

I have always regarded Zahawi as one of the better apologists who was from time to time, sent on to do media interviews in defence of some utterly disgraceful Tory policy.

Watching him on BBC Breakfast or listening to him on LBC, I thought "this guy is sounding so plausible - he could be a used car salesman"

No - not a used car salesman, I'm sure some of them are decent people. He sounded like a con-man.

Maremia Tue 24-Jan-23 21:52:40

Latest updates indicate that Number 10's support is diminishing. PMQ's could be electric again tomorrow.

MayBee70 Wed 25-Jan-23 00:04:38

His position is untenable. He is dead man walking. Still, it’s a good dead cat strategy to divert attention away from the Chairman of the BBC and Johnson’s* loan.
* who still seems to get away with everything….

foxie48 Wed 25-Jan-23 08:10:58

grandtanteJE65 T "If a reputable firm of chartered accountants can make such an elementary mistake, then I suppose Zahwi's may have done something similar."

This keeps being said, but if accountants make a mistake having been given ALL the relevant information by the tax payer, the tax payer is required to pay the unpaid tax but WILL NOT be required to pay a penalty.

Iam64 Wed 25-Jan-23 08:12:36

foxie48

*grandtanteJE65 T* "If a reputable firm of chartered accountants can make such an elementary mistake, then I suppose Zahwi's may have done something similar."

This keeps being said, but if accountants make a mistake having been given ALL the relevant information by the tax payer, the tax payer is required to pay the unpaid tax but WILL NOT be required to pay a penalty.

This
Varian puts it well - he reminds me of a con man. In fact, he always has.

Fleurpepper Wed 25-Jan-23 08:36:50

Katie59

No connection with a company in Gibraltar, yet——

Mr Zahawi makes reference throughout the MPs’ register to Zahawi & Zahawi, a family firm whose holdings include his constituency home, a 31-acre estate in Warwickshire which boasts its own livery stables. The property was bought, entirely legitimately, in 2011 using a loan from a company based in the tax haven of Gibraltar.

Might be an entirely different company in Gibraltar of course!.

I know, I know ... irrelevant. But it does remind me of those who resented the fact Keir Starmer had bought his very handicapped mother a small donkey sanctuary, and how some castigated him for it. And then those who say 'they are all the same!'

foxie48 Wed 25-Jan-23 08:39:53

Iam64

foxie48

grandtanteJE65 T "If a reputable firm of chartered accountants can make such an elementary mistake, then I suppose Zahwi's may have done something similar."

This keeps being said, but if accountants make a mistake having been given ALL the relevant information by the tax payer, the tax payer is required to pay the unpaid tax but WILL NOT be required to pay a penalty.

This
Varian puts it well - he reminds me of a con man. In fact, he always has.

He strikes me as a man who made a lot of money but didn't want to pay the proper tax on his profit, came up with something that he thought would avoid his tax liability and got caught out. I'm pretty sure if he had run the idea past his accountants or discussed it with HMRC, they would have told him that it was a non runner so he didn't! I don't think he's fit for public office and he should resign.

Mokeswife Wed 25-Jan-23 08:47:35

NO! Why can't we go for a vote of no confidence in this shower and just get shot of them before it's too late?

MaizieD Wed 25-Jan-23 09:15:15

Mokeswife

NO! Why can't we go for a vote of no confidence in this shower and just get shot of them before it's too late?

We cannot 'go for a vote of no confidence' because after having been idiotic enough to vote to leave the EU, voters then compounded their idiocy by voting for 'get Brexit done' and installing not only the most appalling PM the UK has ever had but also giving the tories such a big majority of seats in the House of Commons that they can never be voted down by the rest of the MPs. That rules out an opposition vote of no confidence. The tories themselves will not initiate one because they are determined to hang onto power until the bitter end.

I don't think people actually understand how powerless everyone is to get rid of them until the next General Election. By which time they will have broken the UK so thoroughly that it will take years to recover.

Whitewavemark2 Wed 25-Jan-23 10:00:16

I seem that according to the Telegraph, that it is accepted now by the Tory party (not all of them surely?) that Brexit is a disaster and should never have been

Lot I could say, but it would be too rude.

Fleurpepper Wed 25-Jan-23 11:22:07

Not sure if that has been posted- but it is hard to watch

twitter.com/BestForBritain/status/1617587212513574913?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1617587212513574913%7Ctwgr%5Edd70c0256d8cda748d0670279c14441b100f14d8%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thelondoneconomic.com%2Fpolitics%2Fzahawi-being-probed-on-his-tax-affairs-as-chancellor-makes-for-painful-viewing-342377%2F

Fleurpepper Wed 25-Jan-23 11:22:52

Whitewavemark2

I seem that according to the Telegraph, that it is accepted now by the Tory party (not all of them surely?) that Brexit is a disaster and should never have been

Lot I could say, but it would be too rude.

As it is behing paywall, is there any chance we could se the whole article, please?

Whitewavemark2 Wed 25-Jan-23 11:25:03

Fleurpepper

Whitewavemark2

I seem that according to the Telegraph, that it is accepted now by the Tory party (not all of them surely?) that Brexit is a disaster and should never have been

Lot I could say, but it would be too rude.

As it is behing paywall, is there any chance we could se the whole article, please?

Saw it on twitter! I think. I’ll try to find it, it might be on the BBC site.

Fleurpepper Wed 25-Jan-23 11:46:47

Yes, please.

Lovecatssomuch Wed 25-Jan-23 14:45:17

Not a mistake and if it is a mistake he shouldn't be in the job. I work two jobs and currently believe Im underpaying this tax year. I suspect it already and the tax year not over. Obviously not millions but estimate £100-£200. I know this. He knew and like I said, if he didn't, he too careless to have his job.

MayBee70 Wed 25-Jan-23 14:54:39

Have I got this right? He was over HMRC at a time when he was being investigated by and fined by HMRC and yet they need an inquiry to see if that was a conflict of interest/a breaking of the ministerial code?

Maggieanne Wed 25-Jan-23 15:05:43

Did I hear that there was something fishy about the planning of his property and that something shouldn't have been allowed?

Whitewavemark2 Wed 25-Jan-23 15:09:43

Maggieanne

Did I hear that there was something fishy about the planning of his property and that something shouldn't have been allowed?

Yes in the Cotswolds.

It never ends.

And maybe

Yes, and it wasn’t until he became HMRC boss that the case was agreed. One suspects pressure, I suspect he got off lightly.

MayBee70 Wed 25-Jan-23 15:16:49

At least he pays more tax than Sunaks wife I suppose….

Katie59 Wed 25-Jan-23 16:16:28

Maggieanne

Did I hear that there was something fishy about the planning of his property and that something shouldn't have been allowed?

The fishy part was that it has “Agricultural Use” restriction, which made it cheap because it was not mortgageable, so the livery business was established to satisfy planning and the Gibraltar loan paid for it.

Germanshepherdsmum Wed 25-Jan-23 16:25:00

MayBee70

At least he pays more tax than Sunaks wife I suppose….

Sunak’s wife has given up her non dom status and pays tax in the UK.

Fleurpepper Wed 25-Jan-23 16:28:17

Katie59

Maggieanne

Did I hear that there was something fishy about the planning of his property and that something shouldn't have been allowed?

The fishy part was that it has “Agricultural Use” restriction, which made it cheap because it was not mortgageable, so the livery business was established to satisfy planning and the Gibraltar loan paid for it.

And then he claimed the heating of those stables as personal expenses!!!

Katie59 Wed 25-Jan-23 16:55:15

Never heard of heating stables, horses like a cool fresh environment, it was probably a “careless” declaration

GrannyGravy13 Wed 25-Jan-23 17:02:56

Katie59

Never heard of heating stables, horses like a cool fresh environment, it was probably a “careless” declaration

High end eventers and expensive race horses along with up-market livery yards have heated stables, shower stables and solariums to dry the horses after their showers.

At our hard we just put an extra rug on them when the temperature is really low.