Richard Tice allegedly failed to pay almost \u00a3100,000 in corporation tax to the benefit of his investment company, which in turn made donations to Reform UK, it has been reported.<\/p>\n
In response to the report in the Sunday Times<\/a>, the deputy leader of Reform UK posted a lengthy statement on X, in which he said: \u201cA long career with multiple businesses is bound to feature some errors. Naturally I am always happy to put things right and if numbers need rechecking, of course I will pay what is owed \u2013 be that more or less.\u201d<\/p>\n Tice ran four shell companies \u2013 a corporation without active business operations or significant assets \u2013 that allegedly did not pay any tax on profits between 2020 and 2022, the Sunday Times reported.<\/p>\n The newspaper said the companies had been set up to receive dividends from Tice\u2019s property investment firm and pass the money to their parent company. Between March 2020 and May 2022, Tisun Investments Ltd then transferred \u00a31,113,000 to Reform UK<\/a>, the newspaper reported.<\/p>\n The party directed the Guardian to Tice\u2019s statement on X when approached for comment.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cHere\u2019s the reality: tax efficiency is a basic corporate responsibility and duty to shareholders. A long career with multiple businesses is bound to feature some errors. Naturally I am always happy to put things right and if numbers need rechecking, of course I will pay what is owed \u2013 be that more or less.\u201d<\/p>\n Tice accused the Sunday Times of \u201ccrawling all my business career in the hope of dredging up some more obscure technical issues from years ago\u201d and claimed the newspaper was collaborating with the Labour party in a \u201csmear campaign\u201d.<\/p>\n In response to the report, the Labour party chair, Anna Turley, said: \u201cRichard Tice\u2019s credibility is in tatters and Nigel Farage needs to urgently explain why he remains Reform\u2019s deputy leader.<\/p>\n \u201cTice aggressively attacked the Sunday Times for raising questions about his tax affairs, but he now admits that he may not have paid the taxes he owes.\u201d<\/p>\n She added: \u201cThis is a major scandal that\u2019s not going away. Tice has called for others to resign over tax errors that involved less money than this.\u201d<\/p>\n Get in touch<\/p>\n Contact us about this story<\/p>\n The best public interest journalism relies on first-hand accounts from people in the know. If you have something to share on this subject, you can contact us confidentially using the following methods:<\/p>\n Secure Messaging in the Guardian app<\/p>\n The Guardian app has a tool to send tips about stories. Messages are end to end encrypted and concealed within the routine activity that every Guardian mobile app performs. This prevents an observer from knowing that you are communicating with us at all, let alone what is being said.<\/p>\n If you don\u2019t already have the Guardian app, download it (iOS<\/a>\/Android<\/a>) and go to the menu. Select \u2018Secure Messaging\u2019. <\/p>\n SecureDropIf you can safely use the tor network without being observed or monitored you can send messages and documents to the Guardian via our SecureDrop platform.<\/a><\/p>\n