UK: Rishi Sunak orders tax, finance probe against Conservative Party chief Nadhim Zahawi

LONDON: UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Monday initiated a probe into claims that the leader of the governing Conservative Party settled a significant unpaid tax bill while he was in control of the nation’s Treasury on Monday. Sunak has seen criticism of his own personal riches and family tax arrangements, and this is just one of numerous stories about hidden loans and unpaid taxes that have made him uncomfortable. Nadhim Zahawi, the party’s chairman, has admitted to having a disagreement with the IRS about shares of YouGov, the polling firm he co-founded. The error, he claimed, was “careless and not deliberate,” nonetheless. He added in a statement, “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”. The tax bill, including the punishment, amounts to roughly 5 million pounds ($6.2 million), according to the BBC and other British media. They claim that the debt was resolved between July and September, in the closing days of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s administration, while Zahawi served as Treasury Secretary. On Monday, Sunak announced that he had requested Laurie Magnus, his standards advisor, “to completely investigate the incident, uncover all the facts, and provide advice to me on Nadhim Zahawi’s compliance with the ministerial code.” “I strongly value honesty and accountability, and it’s obvious that there are issues that need to be answered in this case,” he said. After a turbulent few years that saw Johnson deposed by numerous scandals and his successor Liz Truss overthrown after her policies shook the U.K. economy, Sunak assumed office as the country’s leader in October, vowing “integrity, professionalism, and accountability.” After news broke that Johnson’s distant cousin, Canadian billionaire Sam Blyth, guaranteed a loan to the then-prime minister for 800,000 pounds ($993,000) in 2021, Johnson’s financial arrangements returned to the news. According to The Sunday Times, financier and Conservative fundraiser Richard Sharp assisted in arranging the transaction. On the government’s advice, Sharp was appointed BBC chairman a few weeks later. Sharp told the Sunday Times that there was no conflict of interest and that he had “just connected” people. He said on Monday that the internal probe was requested “to guarantee that all the necessary procedures have been followed.” According to the rumours, Sunak, a former investment banker who is married to the daughter of an Indian billionaire, is in charge of an affluent administration that is disconnected from the problems of the people. It was discovered last year that his wife Akshata Murthy failed to pay UK taxes on her foreign earnings, which included 11.5 million pounds in dividends from Infosys, the Indian IT business her father established. Even while the method was lawful, it appeared callous at a time when Sunak, the head of the UK Treasury, was raising taxes for millions of Britons. Although it is not obligatory for U.K. prime ministers to release their tax returns, Sunak has declared that he will do so for the sake of transparency. Read all the Latest News, Trending News,  Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.